Rivalries, Relationships & Really Strong Feelings
by Timeless23
Summary: A group of friends attend Tree Hill Academy. Within their social group, everyone's got problems with themselves or each other and lots of hidden secrets are kept. What happens when a new girl starts there? What will her presence create? A lot of drama...
1. Prologue

**Summary: A group of friends all attend Tree Hill Academy. Nathan, Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, Tim, Jake, Rachel, Skills and Mouth. All belong to the same social group but are a seriously messed up, with everyone having problems of their own or with each other. And there's secrets all round. Enter Haley James – the new girl. What will her presence among the gang start? A lot of drama that's for sure…**

**Couples: Naley, Brucas, Jeyton, a little Rathan, a little HaleyOC, Skevin, MouthShelley**

**Friendships: Major Baley, Laley, Lathan, Breyton, Paley, Routh, LucasSkills... n some othas**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters. They belong to Mark Schwahn and the CW.**

**Notes:**

**1) The whole drama with Nathan and Lucas (in the first season) happened; just Haley wasn't there to witness it. Now they are pretty tight.**

**2) The whole Peyton-Lucas-Brooke triangle from season 1 did happen. At the moment neither is dating Lucas and Breyton are giving their friendship another go (just like end of season1/beginning of season 2). They're both also friends with Lucas – but there's a lot of unresolved issues**

**3) Nathan and Peyton were never together (and Nathan and Brooke never had sex!)**

**4) Everyone has their season 4 style looks, except Nathan – his hair is set from his season 3 look**

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**Prologue**

"_True __friendship multiplies__ the __good__ in life and __divides__ its __evils. Strive__ to have __friends__, for life __without friends__ is like life on a desert __island__…to find __one__ real __friend__ in a lifetime is good __fortune__; to __keep__ him is a __blessing__," __**–Baltasar Gracian**_

Skills Taylor walked among the rush of students during lunch hour. He pushed his way through the crowd, working his way towards the cafeteria of Tree Hill Academy. This was a home to all the students that attended, which included Skills and all his friends. A boarding school that generally required either students to have the brains to get a full scholarship, or the rich parents to buy their way in... needless to say the school was very well off from all the money they received.

As Skills rounded the corner and walked into the cafeteria he caught a lot of people noticing him. He was used to it though; he was a basketball player after all. Being part of the team practically made it mandatory to be 1) popular, 2) wanted, 3) and noticed everywhere you go.

Entering the cafeteria his feet automatically made it towards their normal table. The table that was always left for the 'elite' group of THA - otherwise known as him and his friends. Reaching his destination he was surprised to find a full house. Usually there would be a few of them there, since everyone would have different schedules or commitments, but he was guessing since school wasn't starting officially for a few days; everyone would be there at the same time.

"Hey Skills," Luke looked up and saw him as Skills went and sat in the empty seat next to him.

"What up dawg." He bumped fists with Lucas.

Lucas Scott. The older, blonde haired, blue eyed half of the infamous Scott duo. Co-captain of the basketball team with his brother, he was one of the most sought out and popular guys at THA. But Lucas wasn't interested in that kind of stuff. He would go out and have a good time with his friends, and at parties; but most of the time he would shy away from all the attention. He was a humble guy and could be quite modest. He also had a passion for literature that not many people knew about but his friends. Being one of the cleverest students in THA, there wasn't many things that Lucas wasn't good at. Except when it came to matters of the heart.

Skills looked over to the two girls sitting opposite him as they both smiled and greeted him. The first one was a beautiful curly blonde haired girl. Peyton Sawyer, the broody artist who liked to sit there and draw while listening to her 'tragic rock music' as Brooke put it. She was the odd one in the group, the rebel without a cause – she was a walking contradiction and that made her unique. And the girl was strong; having lost her mother at a young age, cheerleading is one connection she has with her and so she pursues it.

Sitting next to her was Brooke Davis, also beautiful but in a completely different way. A bubbly brunette that was always perky showing off her cute dimples - she made a perfect cheerleading captain. Always ready with a retort, she could get pretty mad when provoked (hence the reason they call her 'Hurricane Davis') but what was most admirable about her was her undeniable loyalty to those she loved. Having ignorant parents she found a family in her friends.

These girls were best friends for 10 years, they'd found a family in one another and believed nothing could destroy it. Until Lucas Scott came in the picture. Lucas always having had a crush on Peyton chose to be with her, but his timing couldn't have been more off. Peyton going through some stuff of her own didn't believe she could have a relationship and so destroyed any hopes of them being together. Enter Brooke Davis her best friend who'd had a thing for the older Scott for a while, but did nothing, thinking him and Peyton were going to be together. However once Peyton denied them ever being a couple, Brooke took it upon herself to chase him and one night, having saved Peyton from being drugged and raped at some frat party; they'd bonded and Lucas saw the real Brooke Davis. They began to go out and Brooke found herself falling hard for him. She was previously referred to as a slut, generally playing the field and hooking up with random hot guys. But Lucas Scott was the first guy she felt something for... she was falling in love. However Lucas having unresolved feelings for Peyton, and she for him, created a recipe for disaster. Needless to say Lucas and Peyton cheated while he was with Brooke and she found out.

It had been almost a year since and now that they were all almost-17 year olds starting their junior year, they had all decided to put the past behind them and bury it. Skills knew his friend felt extremely guilty over what he had done to the girls' friendship. They were still friends, but everyone could tell they were not how they used to be. Brooke had been betrayed by her best friend, her _family_, and the hurt was still present. Their friendship was unlikely to ever be the same and everyone knew this. Skills also knew that Lucas still had feelings there, everyone did. He was still hopelessly in love with her – except no one knew which 'her' it was, not even Peyton or Brooke.

"I cannot believe you!"

"Me?! You're the one that's always going around throwing yourself at the entire basketball team!"

Skills saw as Lucas sighed, Peyton rolled her eyes and Brooke muttered some curses under her breath. Looking further down the table he found the source of irritation, as always coming from Tree Hill Academy's worst couple ever.

"Oh please, don't act like you're all innocent Nathan! I saw you flirting up a storm with that fat Claire girl from Bear Creek at the last away game!" Rachel fumed staring at her so-called boyfriend.

"That was two months ago!" Nathan almost shouted, pissed that she still hadn't gotten over that.

Nathan Scott, the second half of the Scott legend. He was younger by Lucas by 3 months (a factor Lucas never let him forget). Tall, with a built frame, raven coloured hair and the same blue eyes as his brother, he was sought out just as much, if not more. Being the Big Man On Campus was a life Nathan easily took on. What wasn't there to like? Parties, booze, chicks and sex. That was the life as far as Nathan was concerned. Although Skills was pretty sure that recently Nathan was getting fed up with his lifestyle. Being the all-star basketball king did come with several cons. The pressure his father puts on him and his brother was a main factor. Skills was also pretty sure that Nathan was sick of his love life too. Using the term 'love' loosely, considering Nathan was the king of hook-ups. His relationship with Rachel was mostly for show – she was a cheerleader and he was co-captain of the basketball team – and according to Nathan, the sex was good too.

"So? Are you denying it?" Rachel spat back.

Rachel Gatina was one of _those_ girls. She spread herself around…you name him, she's probably _done_ him. Everyone called her a whore but she doesn't care what they think – particularly the entire female population. As long as the guys aren't complaining she isn't bothered. Once she realised that Nathan was the big man on campus, she went straight for him landing him both in her bed and with the unfortunate title as her boyfriend. When they started off the flirting was good, and apparently so was the sex. But after being together for almost three months, Nathan and Rachel were reaching their boiling points. Neither was good in a relationship – especially with each other. They both cheated on one another, neither cared about the other's feelings much and nothing solid ever remained between the couple…not that it ever have done. The rest of the group were convinced they were gonna break up some time pretty soon, and they were all for it. None of them had ever liked Rachel, especially Brooke. And they couldn't wait for Nathan to come to his senses and end it already.

As Skills shook his head and turned away, he looked down the other end of the table. He slapped hands with the rest of his mates. Three guys – Marvin "Mouth" McFadden, Jake Jagielski and Tim Smith.

Mouth, his name originating from his prominent lips, was a nice guy. He was good friends with Lucas and Skills and so got accepted into the group once the two brothers stopped fighting and formed an alliance. He was also the commentator, going to all the games and giving a live account of every detail taking place. He was sweet, thoughtful, caring and despite this he couldn't seem to land a girlfriend. Well, when he was with the Scott brothers and other guys from the team, he was usually overlooked in favour of the 'basketball hotties'. He'd always been the 'friend' never the 'boyfriend'. Skills saw as he looked over at the smiling brunette talking to her friend. Yup, Mouth had a crush the size of Africa on Brooke Davis. Problem though, she only saw him as a good friend and once even referred to him as a 'little brother'. That was pretty upsetting, but Mouth also knew that Brooke was still in love with Lucas and had no desire to get in the way should she ever choose to open herself to him again.

Skills looked to the guy sitting next to him – Jake. Probably the most genuine guy you've ever met. He played basketball too and also had other talents. Playing the guitar was one, not to mention he could sing, but he only ever did for Jenny. Jenny, his beautiful daughter and the most important girl in his world. Still a little baby, the only people who knew of her existence were his parents, the teachers, Whitey, Lucas, himself, Nathan and Jake's ex – Nikki the absentee mother. Skills had often wondered why Jake didn't tell the rest of the gang. Tim was understandable; the guy couldn't keep a secret to save his life. But the girls (excluding Rachel) would be more than understanding. He guessed Jake just wasn't ready yet, and so they continued to cover for his sudden disappearances, secret phone calls and 'family emergencies'. Skills also happened to know that Jake had a little thing for miss curly blonde locks. _Especially with the way he's looking at her now_. But Jake was a gentleman, one of those guys who really was understanding. He was not going to go for a girl that was emotionally unavailable; Peyton still had feelings for Lucas.

"Yo, dawg – pass me the mayo." Tim said to Skills who did as he complied while Brooke said, "For the last time Tim, you're white!"

She then made a gross face along with Peyton as they watched Tim spread mayo over the ketchup that his chips were already drenched in, with a look of pure glee on his face.

Yep, Tim Smith was still a child in many ways. Not to mention he came out with stupid phrases like 'It's Tim Time!', 'Whadup dawg' and 'High five chica'. It was no wonder that Brooke nicknamed him 'Dim'…but then Brooke nicknamed everyone. What no one noticed though was the look that Tim got sometimes on his face when no one was watching. When they made another joke at his expense, or made gross faces at something he'd done. He was a good sport, he didn't mind being the butt of the joke every now and then, but when it was done on an hourly basis, at one point it did hurt. Not that Tim would ever admit it.

_Man, _Skills thought. _This has got to be the most disturbed and odd group of friends ever_. The elite group of THA having been friends for two years now consisted of: a cocky basketball star, his broody heart-breaking brother, an emo cheerleader, a betrayed spirit-broken cheerleading captain, a crushed insecure commentator, a village idiot, an abandoned sixteen year old father of 1, a self-proclaimed whore, and himself. The inconspicuous observer.

Little did he know, one more person was yet to make themselves felt among the group…and that her presence would change all their lives.

* * *

"Alright Haley-Bop, are you going to be okay from here?" Lydia James looked at her youngest child. Her baby, who'd finally grown up and was now moving away.

"I'll be fine Mum. Besides you and Dad should get going or you wont get to Quinn on time." Haley's parents, now that they'd got their last child in a boarding school had brought an RV to go visit their six older children in their homes. And then to generally travel around the world after that. They'd still kept the house though, knowing that during some holidays it would be nice to have a family reunion there, say for Christmas.

"Okay, I guess this is where we leave you then." Lydia came and pulled her daughter into a hug as Jimmy pulled the last of Haley's luggage to the entrance. The school's janitor, she was guessing, had started piling it into a cart to take to her room.

"Come here baby James," Jimmy said fondly pulling his daughter in a monster hug once her mother let her go. "You take care of yourself darling."

"Always do daddy," Haley smiled at them.

"And don't forget that if you need anything we're one call away," her mother reminded her before getting into the RV with her father at the wheel.

"See you guys." Haley waved at her parents, and just before they drove off, her mum popped her head out of the window.

"Oh and Haley-Bop, don't forget – always use a condom! I don't need any more grandbabies just yet!" with that parting comment they drove off leaving their daughter smiling, shaking her head and glad no one else was around to witness that. Her parents were definitely anything but conventional. But she loved them…even though they were crazy sometimes.

Pulling her bag over her shoulder she looked at the building she was about to enter. Normally she would have asked her parents to come in with her, but this change signified the cementing of her independence and she knew she'd have to do this by herself. Giving herself the once over, wearing a fitted purple tank top, a white Abercrombie skirt and a pair of white pumps, she figured it was good. Thankfully despite it being the fall, the weather was still pretty warm.

_Okay, clothes all right? Check. Hair down. Check. Teeth clear? Check. Nerves in check? Er...check... right – let's do this._

Haley straightened herself out and walked through the front doors for her first day at Tree Hill Academy.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took forever but I actually posted the prologue just before I had exams (mainly to see if there was any interest for the story at all!). Anyway, here's the 1st chapter, hope you like, and please review so I know if people are actually into the story! Hopefully updates will be more often from now on, so let me know what you think.**

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**Chapter 1**

"_You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."_**-Unknown**

Haley surveyed her new surroundings. This place was to be her new home for her junior and senior years. She had been accepted by the academy quite late, only five days before classes started. But she was lucky considering she'd just managed to snatch up the place of some other girl who dropped out.

She'd always wanted to come to THA, wanting to experience the whole 'living away from home' thing. Most people would think she was crazy for actually _wanting_ to go to a boarding school, but honestly she found it kind of exciting. Not to mention ever since her older sister Taylor, the last sibling to leave the house, went to New York for her internship at Vogue, Haley felt kind of lonely at home. Ever since she was little she'd been surrounded by people – she had six older siblings after all. One by one as they left, Haley felt that in a way she was left behind. And even though her parents were there, it wasn't the same. So when she'd heard about this school she'd immediately set on to the idea of coming here.

Currently though she was getting a little annoyed. She was waiting for her roommate to arrive; though she should have already been here. She'd been told of Haley's arrival _so where is she?_

Sighing she walked over to the other girl's side of the room. This roommate of hers was definitely quite a character. Haley could tell that much, simply from the way her side of the room was done up. It wasn't messy so to speak, just slightly…crazy.

The four poster bed had what looked like drapes attached from the top that fell elegantly around the bed, giving it the look of one of those fairytale-type beds. The shelves beside the bed were covered in photo frames of pictures, random bits of make up and accessories. The vanity by her desk displayed a jewellery stand that was covered in sparkly bits and bobs, and there was a various assortment of cloths covering the girl's actual writing desk. Putting it all together with the stack of fashion magazines on the girl's bedside table, Haley came to the conclusion that this girl wanted to go into something to with fashion. Funnily, that reminded her of Taylor, and a slight twinge of homesickness waved over her randomly. But that was taken over by a small feeling of dread once she saw the pom-poms hanging near the door.

_Oh crap…I'm rooming with a cheerleader…_Haley had nothing against cheerleaders, really she didn't. She'd even had friends who were cheerleaders in her previous school. And because of that she got to know most of the team and also knew what complete bitches they could be. _God please if you have any mercy on me, do not give me a 'vapid-airhead-slutty-bitch-of-a-cheerleader-who'll-bring-random-hot-but-most-likely-stupid-jocks-for-a-screw-every-night-thus-causing-me-to-smother-her-in-her-sleep' type of roommate._

Honestly she hadn't given much thought to what type of roommate she would have and realised maybe she should have put in a request or something. Looking back at the time, she remembered being so happy she got in that she never really questioned who she'd be living with.

_Well at least she's hygienic…_she looked over the bathroom, glad she wouldn't be stuck with some random girl who had no idea how to be clean and never heard the words broom, mop or Dettol before.

Before she could investigate any further she heard the door open back in the dorm room. Turning back into the room she saw a brunette girl, slightly taller than her and currently looking confused at the horde of luggage sitting in the middle of her room.

"Er...hi" Haley offered somewhat awkwardly as the girl's head whipped round in her direction.

_Well she certainly looks the cheerleader type, _Haley thought noticing that the girl was stunning in that shiny hair, white teeth, perfectly shaped eyebrows type of way. _The 'I'm definitely gonna be famous one day' looking girl._ Still Haley never was one to judge people on looks or stereotypes, and seeing as the girl was currently wearing an extremely bright smile on her face _with dimples and everything_ Haley figured she might like this girl.

"Omigod! Hi! You must be the new girl." She claimed perkily.

"Yeah," but before she could continue she was interrupted by the girl before her as she smacked her forehead lightly.

"Ooops, I totally forgot you were coming today. You know, I could've sworn the office said you were coming on the _1__st _not the _31__st_…" she trailed off slightly confused and Haley was slightly surprised to notice the girl's voice to have a slightly raspy edge to it as she carried on,

"…oh well – you're here now. What's your name again? I think that office said something like Holly or Heather…?"

"Actually it's-"

"Well, I'm Brooke Davis, your new roommate, and let me the first to welcome to THA!" _Did everything this girl say sound like a cheer?_

"That's nic-"

"Oh New Girl, I should totally show you around campus. You haven't had an official tour yet have you? Well, I'll have to show you all the hottest places round the area."

"Haley!" She burst out before Brooke could come out with another word. Brooke looked at her curiously for a second. _Great Haley, that didn't sound totally stupid at all!_ "Er…My name's Haley…and thanks for offering to show me round – that would be great."

She noticed that Brooke was now slowly looking her up and down as if scrutinizing her to see of she was legit. Haley felt slightly self conscious when her gaze hadn't lifted from examining her.

"Omigod!" She exclaimed again startling Haley, "I knew it!" With that she ran over to her closet leaving a puzzled Haley behind.

A few seconds later she came out holding the exact same skirt as the one Haley was currently wearing except hers was in blue.

"Well Roomie," Brooke said grinning after seeing they're a perfect match, "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship…"

**_About an hour later…_**

"4.2??!!!" Brooke all but yelled at the blushing girl before her.

"Er…yeah" Haley stated calmly. Brooke had decided that they would have a 'gal-pal' bonding session while Haley unpacked. And the more curious know-it-all side of Haley definitely wanted to know more about the girl, who she'd be living with all year, so had agreed easily. Surprisingly Haley found that she and Brooke could have easy conversation and she was learning a lot about her new room-mate.

"H. James! That's like double my brain point average…man you're like a genius! Any chance you'll do my homework for me?" Brooke batted her eyelids in an oh-so-cute way.

"Ok, first of all H. James?" Secondly I'm not _that_ smart and I don't think you're that dumb. And thirdly, not a chance!" Haley smiled at the small pout Brooke sported while she pulled out a couple of skirts and packed them away.

"Ok Missy James, first of all – it's a nickname, its what I do to all my friends," Haley smiled at that, "And 'not that smart' my ass! I don't think even any of the teachers in this place are that clever!"

"Maybe," Haley said a little proud at being praised like that. _Did I mention I like this girl!_

"Anyways, Roomie I was thinking of intro- OMIGOD!!" She shrieked suddenly causing Haley to jump several feet in the air.

"Damn Brooke, what the hell?" Haley clutched a hand over a heart

"God, what in the name of all things hideous is this?!" Brooke said snatching the item that Haley had just been pulling out of her suitcase. Holding up the crocheted poncho in front of her, Brooke had a simple look of pure horror on her face. "Please tell me you don't wear this travesty in public!"

"Hey," Haley snatched that back from her "That happens to be a present from my Nan, it has sentimental value." Haley defended the woolly garment. To be truthful she'd only ever worn it once for her Nan, otherwise it was usually just kept in her closet.

Brooke snorts, "Well that's the only type of value it could have, seriously I'd burn it if I were you." Haley rolled her eyes good-naturedly before turning to place the poncho into her closet.

Turning back she found Brooke going through the rest of her suitcase. "Ooooh, this on the other hand," Brooke pulled out a cute although slightly revealing halter top (a gift from Taylor) "is freakin' gorgeous! Roomie other than that ugly duckling poncho thing, the rest of your clothes rock!" She pulled out another couple of outfits gazing at them appreciatively as though approving of them.

"Well thanks Brooke, I'm glad they have your consent…anything else of mine you wanna see?" She teased eyeing the way Brooke continued to be passing through her luggage. It was then that her room-mate realised what she was doing.

"Oops, my bad." She shrugged giving a sweet smile "I'm a little snoopy – it's a bad habit, comes with being an only child."

"Well lucky for you, I come from a family of 6 siblings, so I've never been used to having any privacy." She smiled at the way Brooke's eyes widened at the mention of her large number of siblings.

"Woah your parents kept busy!" Ignoring the grimace that came over Haley's face at that comment she continued, "Anyway…as I was saying before I totally need to introduce you to everyone."

"Already?" Haley just finished packing all her clothes into her new closet and felt the nerves beginning to settle. _It was bound to happen eventually_. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Of course if Brooke's friends were anything like her, they'd probably be great. Haley had already taken a great liking to the girl; she technically didn't have to be her friend – just her room mate. But it was obvious the Brooke Davis was quite a warm and bubbly person and Haley was glad she'd be rooming with her.

But that didn't stop her being nervous at the thought of meeting everyone else. She was usually quite confident, and very social, but in this case it was different. She was practically starting a new life in a new school and this time there would be no family to go home to.

"Yup, no time like the present I say." Brooke chirped from her side of Haley's bed.

"You don't have anything to worry about, they'll love you New Girl." Haley was surprised how Brooke managed to pick up on what she was thinking; clearly she was more perceptive than she let on. _Either that or I look a helluva lot more nervous than I should. _

"And who is _they_ exactly?" Haley asked feeling if she knew more about them she could make a good impression.

"Oh well that would be , Broody, HotShot, Skills, Mouth, Dim and well…Jake." She frowned at the end.

"Wow, you branded everyone with a Brooke Davis worthy title?" Haley chuckled as Brooke poked her tongue at her.

"Almost…damn how have I never given Jake a name before?"

"Poor boy, must be feeling deprived." Haley said sarcastically which Brooke dismissed with a wave before dragging Haley off the bed.

"Wait where are we going?" Brooke was practically dragging her to the door.

"Where d'ya think? I'm introducing you to my friends, after I give you the Official THA Tour à la Brooke." With that she looped her arm through Haley's and opened the door.

"This should be interesting…" Haley said on the way out.

* * *

"And over there we have the gym, where you'll probably find most of the female population during basketball season." Brooke said pointing it out as she walked by with Haley, their arms still looped together. Anyone walking by at this point would think that they'd always been this way – not that they'd only met a two hours previously.

"You have a girl's basketball team?" Haley asked surprised.

"Er…no" Brooke chuckled seeing Haley's confused look. "They're just all in there watching the basketball hotties from the team work out. All sweaty, and ripped, and shirtless…" Brooke said sighing dreamily, "I should really hang out there more."

Haley laughed slightly at that. She was generally quite surprised at how friendly and warm Brooke was. She had hoped she would get along well with her roommate, and Brooke was making it very easy. Haley had only known her a little while and already found herself at complete ease around the girl. She was bubbly, funny and could talk a mile a minute, and Haley could tell she was very confident in herself. Despite several obvious differences in their personalities, they clicked together well.

Brooke was also quite surprised at how she seemed to get along with the new girl already. In their little session back in the room, Brooke had learnt that Haley was here on a scholarship, liked to tutor, had a 4.0 GPA and was a complete klutz. They seemed to be complete opposites, but then Brooke realised so were her and Peyton and that never stopped them being good friends. Though she could already tell her relationship with Haley was different from that with Peyton, she didn't know how yet – but she could feel it. Besides they weren't that different, they both had great fashion sense, loved romcoms, and thought Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom were gods. And when Brooke suggested they start the tour, she found it strangely natural, as if they'd walked like this up and down the halls of THA for years.

"Oh and finally, we have arrived at our destination." Brooke took her over to a set of double doors that evidently led to grounds outside.

"What are we doing out here?"

"I'm gonna introduce you to the gang New Girl…or whichever ones are actually there." And Brooke led her along a familiar route, to her anyway, to their usual spot.

"Oh well that's barely any of them." Brooke frowned as Haley looked over to see three guys on a basketball court. Two were playing while one just seemed to be sitting on a bench nearby and she wasn't quite sure what he was doing. _Is he talking to himself?_ Getting nearer to the court, Haley was relieved to find that he was commentating the one-on-one playing out on the court, _good to know none of Brooke's friends are actually crazy. _

"Hey guys!" Brooke cheered as they turned to see her coming. Haley realised Brooke Davis was probably the type of person to command attention wherever she went.

The guys turned around and immediately noticed the beautiful blonde standing next to their friend. Haley looked them over, and noticed they all smiled before coming over.

"Hey Brooke," one of them answered, a tall guy with chestnut brown coloured hair, warm brown eyes, and a charming smile. _Well he is cute!_ "And girl we don't know…" He added looking at Haley.

"Hey shortie, you must be new. Because damn…I would have remembered seeing you around." The other guy commented, he was slightly shorter, bald and darker skinned.

Haley laughed at his attempt to use a line on her, while Brooke just rolled her eyes. "Skills quit trying to be a player."

"Hey I don't need to try – I just am." Skills answered winking at the girls.

"Anyway, Jake, Skills, Mouth…I would like you to meet Haley James – my new roomie and friend."

"Hi," Haley answered smiling at the boys who were taken aback by how stunning she looked by simply smiling. "It's nice to meet you guys."

"Back atcha Shortie," Skills answered as Mouth and Jake nodded.

"So Haley – where are you from?" Jake asked

"I'm actually from Oak Lake. I used to go to Oak Lake High School."

"Really?" Mouth asked as she nodded

"Damn, we must've played you guys a few times. Your team was undefeatable!" Skills said

"Yeah, they were pretty good, until you guys beat them of course." Haley smiled as all three guys seemed to puff up with pride at that statement.

"72-69, close call." Mouth announced

"That was a hard game though." Jake said reminiscently

"So I'm guessing you all play basketball?"

"Damn straight, except Mouth here." Skills informed her, "He's one hell of a commentator though," Haley noticed the boy blush at the praise

"So you a basketball fan Haley?" Jake asked

"Didn't have much of a choice. I have three older brothers who all played the game. I literally grew up with basketballs flying round the house, and Friday nights which consisted of watching highlights of all NBA games in the past century…" She rambled off somewhat as the guys all chuckled.

"Sorry tend to ramble off every now and then" She shrugged

"Don't worry, I think you'll fit right in though Haley James," Jake said.

"Aww, cute Jakey," Seeing his confused look she added, "You need a Brooke name so get used to it." Haley laughed as he held up his hands in mock-surrender, "Anyway I still have many introductions to make, so do you know where I can find anyone – particularly P. Sawyer?"

"Someone mention my name?" They turned and Haley saw a tall, curly blonde, and a taller somewhat broody looking blonde guy walking over. She felt Brooke stiffen slightly as they still had their arms looped, and noticed a small frown on her face as she saw the two walking over. Haley doubted anyone else noticed since she quickly slipped a wide beaming smile on her face seconds later _wonder what that was about?_

" I have been looking for you everywhere!" Brooke said dramatically.

"Brooke you've been standing here talking to us for the last 15 minutes." Mouth pointed out, "Hardly a manhunt you were on there."

Brooke simply poked her tongue out childishly at him before turning back to the two newcomers. At this point Jake and Skills resumed a mini-game right beside the others.

"And who is this?" The friendly looking blonde guy asked, looking over at Haley smiling.

"She's New Girl a.k.a Roomie a.k.a H. James!" Brooke put in as Peyton rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"But you can just call me Haley," Haley said as they chuckled

"And – this is Peyton and Broody."

"But you can just call me Lucas," Lucas reiterated.

"And before you ask, she's transferred from Oak Lake High, is my new room mate and yes, the all important question – she likes basketball."

"You play?" Lucas asked surprised

"Oh God no, I can't shoot at all…or dribble, or simply throw and catch – no I'm not the athletic type. I just watch my brother's play really." Lucas laughed at her rambling.

"You have brothers that play?"

"Yeah all their lives, I pretty much just cheered on the sidelines."

Brooke's eyes lit up at that, "You cheerlead? Roomie you never told me that! Omigod! This is brilliant – you can totally join the squad and then I won't have to use one of those random wannabe substitutes, you are a life saver! I had no idea what I was going to do when Theresa lef-"

"Brooke!" Peyton shouted, "Take a breath before you pass out."

"Sorry I'm just excited."

"I couldn't tell," Peyton added good-naturedly before turning to Haley, "Brooke's captain of cheerleading team, and tends to get a bit obsessive over her pom-pom affairs."

"Hey! At least that's better than brooding over depressing drawings while listening to crappy music…I swear if I have to listen to one more angry rock song my head will explode!" They all laughed at that.

"Well Fall Out Boy beats Beyonce any day!" Peyton says back, practically spitting out the word 'Beyonce' causing everyone to crack up

"There's nothing wrong with Beyonce, isn't that right Haley?"

"Er…well…I'm not exactly a huge Beyonce fan." _Or even a normal Beyonce fan. _

"Oh no, you're not a tragic rock fan are you?" Brooke sighed as Peyton's eyes gleamed

"Oh please tell me you are!" The curly blonde said curiously.

"Well I guess I shouldn't play my music too loud then." Haley said pointedly looking at a defeated Brooke and suddenly energised Peyton.

"Top 5?" She said simply

"Oooh, tough…gotta be Dashboard Confessional, Switchfoot, Fall Out Boy, Jack's Mannequin…and Air Supply – I love me some 70s rock."

"Dude, you know music just like I do!" Peyton practically beamed which was a rare occurrence for her.

Lucas laughed on the side and on Brooke's questioning look he said, "I think Peyton's in love."

* * *

"Dude, did you see those girls lookin' over. They're totally diggin' the Timinator."

Nathan almost groaned aloud at his friend's words. _The Timinator? Seriously! Where does he get this crap…?_

Choosing not to comment he continued walking towards the courts. He'd just spent the past two hours arguing with Rachel. _Two freakin' hours!_ She just would not let anything go! Either they were arguing about him cheating on her, or him neglecting her, or Rachel would be pointing out that he didn't look 'happy enough' when they were together in public. _But who could seriously be happy when they have Rachel for a girlfriend? _He was getting increasingly frustrated with her bitching, and moaning and the frequent clinginess she'd get when other girls flirted with him.

Sure he would put up with it because she was great in the sack, but even that was losing its appeal. He knew when they first hooked up that she was just doing it to gain status and popularity, and he didn't care so long as he got hot and easy sex. Lately though, he'd just found the whole situation damn right annoying. He knew she was screwing others behind his back, heck he was doing the same! Yet they stayed together. Why? She wants the popularity of being 'the Nathan Scott's' girlfriend, and himself – he stayed with her because honestly he doesn't see many other options.

Recently he'd been thinking about it a lot; why he was still with Rachel. He knew if she wasn't so great in bed she'd have been long gone by now. He also knew that if he broke up with her then there would be plenty of girls throwing themselves at him anyway, so it's not like he wouldn't have interest. _That_ though was the problem in itself.

Girls in THA were just too easy. Apparently the fact that he's hot and a basketball star are enough, and they're practically at his feet begging to be laid. _Talk about a total turn-off._ He used to revel in the fact that they did just that, and he would often take advantage of all the girls after him – night after night. But that was it, after one night he'd lose interest and move onto the next.

Sure he was with Rachel for almost three months now. But that was just for public show mainly and to get ass anytime he wants. If he was to break up with her though, he knew that he'd have a line of girls just like her gagging to be the next on his arm. So he didn't see the point, he didn't see any other option; no girls were different from the usual slutty, easy, 'wearing a pound of make-up on their face' type that THA was filled with – except Brooke and Peyton, and he was so not going there_ besides Luke's already screwed them up royally._ Generally there were no girls that stood out to Nathan Scott; that captured his attention at all.

"Yo dude where you at?" He suddenly heard Tim's voice calling out

"Huh?"

"You were like totally zoning out there. You thinkin' bout Rachel?"

Nathan winced slightly at her name, "No! I wasn't."

"That's a shame dawg. She's totally hot! Unless…you thinkin' bout tappin' some other chick?"

"Tim for God's sake you're white, act like it! And would it be so wrong to think that I wasn't thinking about getting with some random slut all the time?" _Sure maybe I was thinking along those lines, but why does everybody always assume I think like a man-whore!_

"Alright, geeze, take a chill pill. What's up with you? Not getting any recently?"

Not dignifying that with a response Nathan quickened his pace towards the courts. Reaching there he found it to be surprisingly empty. _Where the hell is everyone?_

"Hey Nate, over there." Tim pointed and he saw they were all standing around in a huddle nearby. _Weird, the guys at least are always playing out here_.

"Dude, who is the hottie next to Brooke? She has one smokin' ass!" Nathan's head snapped up at that. He looked as the got closer and sure enough there was an extra figure standing next to Brooke. Though he couldn't make her out since she had her back to him, he had to agree with Tim, she definitely looked good from behind.

Curiosity getting the better of him he headed towards the group. He was confused as to who she was until he remembered Brooke going on recently about getting a new room mate soon, since her dorm mate had left.

From what he could see the new girl had honey blonde wavy hair that reached mid-back, and was shorter than Brooke – probably only reaching 5, 2. And she appeared to be wearing a mid-thigh white skirt, showcasing an amazing pair of legs. _Damn,_ he had no idea who this chick was, she could be ugly for all he knew, yet he couldn't help wondering how those legs would feel wrapped around his waist.

"Hey ballers, what's goin' on?" Tim greeted in his typical Tim-like fashion.

The gang stopped chatting for a second as Nathan and Tim walked up. Nathan purposefully stopping directly behind the new girl.

"Oh _finally_ Hotshot, I was wondering when I could introduce Haley to other half of the infamous Scott clan." Brooke said finishing on a sarcastic note.

"Gee I'm sorry that I don't schedule my time around you Brooke." Nathan snit back. He and Brooke always had somewhat a sibling type relationship.

"As you should be," Brooke said. "Haley James meet Nathan Scott." She said while turning the girl around.

_Holy shit!_ Nathan thought as he finally got a look at the mystery girl. One thing was for sure, Haley James was definitely not ugly. _She's gorgeous…_

"Hi," she said. It was a simple greeting, a one-syllable word, yet it got a shiver out of him nonetheless. He didn't realise but he had yet to say anything. He just stood there taking her in. Amazing brown eyes. Thick eyelashes. Cute button nose. Full glossy lips. Flawless skin. And bangs framing her face. All of it meshing together _beautifully_.

If he had been paying attention to anything but her he would have noticed the looks passing between the rest of the gang. Nathan Scott was officially speechless…and all because of a girl.

"Er…hi," he finally choked out. Snapping out of it he realised what he'd just done. _Crap, now she's gonna think I'm some kind of retarded freak_. He had just stood there for almost 2 minutes gawking at her face.

Then he noticed that she hadn't really said anything either. The whole time he'd been staring at Haley, she was had just been looking straight back. _Is she checking me out?_ Of course a thought like that going through Nathan Scott's mind could only result in one thing, a full blown smirk.

The minute her eyes landed on Nathan she found them unable to move away. One word came to mind, _pure hotness!_ - Granted that was actually two words but Haley wasn't exactly thinking straight right now. Standing before her was probably the most gorgeous guy she'd ever seen. Dark raven coloured hair, stunning blue eyes, strong jaw line and defined cheekbones. And when he looked right back at her, she could have sworn she felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach. _Oh great Haley, you're here five minutes and you're already drooling over some guy. Granted he's an extremely hot guy with the most gorgeous eyes you've ever seen…but that's really no excuse!_ She saw as he smirked having noticed her checking him out. _Make that an extremely hot __cocky__ guy. _

Of course the moment had to be broken by none other than Tim himself.

"Hey Brooke, how bout introducing yours truly to the new hottie?" Haley didn't know how to respond to that but was partially distracted by Nathan anyway.

Brooke just rolled her eyes at Tim's lack of…well…anything and mumbled, "Haley this is Tim or Dim, whatever."

Before Haley could say anything Tim sidled up to her "Girl, you are so totally fine. I think you and the Tim should hook up!"

Everyone groaned at Tim's sleaziness while Haley looked slightly creeped out, and stepped away from him. Brooke was about to rip him one but was surprisingly beaten to it.

"Tim quit being a moron and leave her alone," Nathan said. Haley noticed how Tim immediately followed Nathan's demand and she looked over at him to find him still looking her way.

She smiled at him gratefully and he instantly felt a punch in his gut. _What the hell was that?_

Before he could address it, or her even, Brooke suddenly gasped, "Omigod! There's the cheerleading squad. Come on Roomie you've got to meet them." And after a rushed 'bye' over their shoulders, Brooke dragged her off towards Bevin and some of the other girls.

Nathan continued to start after her as the others went back to whatever they were doing. Well everyone except Lucas. He leaned nearer so only Nathan could hear what he was going to say.

"Am I mistaken or does the great Nathan Scott have a crush on the new girl?" He smirked slightly when Nathan instantly snapped out of it and glared at him.

"Sorry Luke, but I don't think so…she's got a body alright, but Nathan Scott doesn't do crushes." And almost mechanically he added "Besides, I already have a hot girlfriend." _Nowhere near as hot as Haley though…_he thought picturing her face in his mind.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I had a uni interview which totally took me by surprise. And seriously I hate interviews, so I had to put everything on hold while I prepared. Now that I've actually got it out the way finally (and hopefully I didn't screw it up) I got my act together and put up the next chapter. I promise next updates will be more frequent. RnR, thanks!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"_Baby there's something about you… that I can hold onto, I'm gonna hold onto that__"__**-Five For Fighting**_

"Seriously this end of summer party is gonna be kick-ass!" Brooke exclaimed happily. They were all seated in the grounds, lazily enjoying their last days of freedom and taking advantage of the great weather.

"Where exactly is this party gonna be?" Haley asked from where she was sitting beside her and Peyton on the grass as the rest of the gang littered about them. She'd been here for officially four days now and was surprised in a good way to see how well things were going.

She found that she and Brooke got on even better than she initially thought. And ever since Brooke had introduced her to Peyton, she'd been hanging out with both girls practically every second of the days so far. It amazed her how completely different the two girls were, yet they had been best friends for so long. Brooke was bubbly, chatty and seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with parties, boys and shopping….not necessarily in that order. Peyton on the other hand was definitely unique – a broody cheerleading artist who listened to rock music; Haley didn't think you got many of those at all. The girl wasn't as chatty as Brooke and did brood a bit - not to mention she was extremely talented with her artwork. But Haley had found something in common with Peyton, it just so happened that they were both music junkies. They both had similar tastes in music, which had caused Brooke to groan a lot.

Besides the girls who had gladly accepted her and formed their own little trio, Haley was surprised to find out how great she got along with everyone else too. Jake seemed like a really sweet guy, Mouth was cool, and Skills was probably the funniest person Haley had ever met. And the Scott brothers. She had wondered how that was possible and Brooke filled her in about their father Dan Scott, and having two different mothers. She hadn't gone into details but Haley sensed it wasn't a subject that was brought up much. They looked so different and acted it too from what she saw – yet they were close. Haley had spoken to Lucas quite a bit and was surprised to find that behind the big basketball player he'd been seen as, there was a guy that had a passion for literature.

And Nathan. _That _was a whole different story. Haley found that every time she looked over at him, she just drowned into those amazing blue pools. She found herself snatching glances at him every now and then when nobody was looking, and each time he'd seemed more gorgeous than the last.

_Oh God, you're doing it right now!_ Haley snapped out of it, noticing that she was too busy looking at Nathan who was currently throwing a basketball around with Lucas, that she'd not heard Brooke's answer. She had to stop this steadily growing habit, especially since she'd found out he was off the market – _I've got to stop checking him out_.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She tore her gaze away from Nathan to look over at Brooke.

"I'm not sure New Girl; I mean...we've always had parties in dorm rooms or in nearby clubs and stuff. I wanna do something different…" She broke off as if going into deep thought. Brooke apparently always threw an end of summer party every year. And every year it _had_ to be better than the last – according to Brooke anyway.

"It would be nice to break out of tradition…" Peyton said lazily as she lay on the ground.

"Well, with the sun out like this constantly, I wouldn't mind just staying out here the whole time." Haley sighed leaning back onto her elbows and soaking in the sun. As she was doing so, she got that funny feeling again. She'd had that same feeling ever since her first day here, that feeling that she was being watched. At first she'd brushed it off thinking that as the new girl she was obviously going to be stared at. But it was this weird feeling as though someone was _constantly _staring at her. She turned her head to the side to look around but didn't notice anyone looking her way. Nathan and Lucas had now involved Skills in their game. And no one else was around them at the moment. _Man I'm getting paranoid….must be cos of nerves. Yeah, that's it. _Brooke chose that moment to squeal, startling Haley, before telling her she was a genius. _Well, I'm never one to turn down compliments _Haley smiled, _wait – why am I a genius again?_

The boys looked over for a second when they heard Brooke give a squeal, obviously getting excited over something. No one seemed to notice how Lucas' gaze lingered a little longer than need be on one of the girls. Not Skills who was busy looking over at some of the cheerleaders nearby. And certainly not Nathan, who was noticing someone himself. He was looking in the same direction as his brother, but instead his focus was on the stunning blonde, and it certainly wasn't Peyton.

_God, she looks amazing…_ He stared at her as she sat there content, leaning back slightly directly in the light of the sun. The rays just seemed to surround and enhance her presence. Nathan didn't know what it was about this girl, but he'd known her for a few days and for some reason he just found himself drawn to her. Heck, he didn't even know her; he'd exchanged a few words with her but she'd spoken more with other members in the group than with him. Still – that didn't exactly stop him from looking at her any moment he got. He'd been subtle about it though since he didn't think she had any idea that he'd been watching her. And he had to be careful since he didn't want any of the gang to see him checking the new girl out constantly.

He watched as she smiled at something Brooke said, before all of a sudden – all the girls turned their gazes to the boys. _Damn, _Nathan thought as she turned and her eyes locked straight onto his, catching him in the act. _Great, just perfect, so much for playing it cool – now she knows you've been watching her like some creepy stalker person!_ And he knew that she'd caught him, especially if the slight smirk on her face was anything to go by. Despite this, he did not draw his eyes from hers. Instead they both stayed like that, just staring intently at each other. That was until she suddenly broke the contact to look at something behind him.

"Hey boyfriend!" Nathan quickly snapped his head into the direction of the red-headed vixen making her way to him right now. He saw as she looked over at the girls and threw a glare their way. _Typical._ He knew that Rachel didn't get along with the girls in the group, and though he tried, she wouldn't let up her grudge for them. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Haley looking over.

Apparently Rachel had noticed too because she came right up to him, and wasted no time in attaching her lips to his. Her lips were firmly glued to his almost forcefully, as he responded. He slanted his lips over hers trying to get better access. He wasn't really surprised, Rachel never was that modest. He chuckled slightly, the words modest and Rachel in the same sentence was pretty hilarious actually. As his mouth opened slightly, Rachel took the opportunity to dive her tongue into his mouth, causing him to moan slightly. She smirked, _that'll keep him from checking out Miss 'I-think-I'm-so-cute' blonde slut over there. _

As they broke apart to catch their breaths, Rachel noticed that Haley was no longer looking their way but instead engaged in a conversation with Brooke, Peyton and Lucas. Skills had decided to take a walk in the direction of the cheerleaders he'd been spying earlier.

"Wanna go make a trip to the janitor's closet?" She smirked over at him.

Nathan was a bit surprised at her sudden invitation. They'd been going through a rough patch lately. And by lately, he meant since a week after they first started dating almost three months before. If she wasn't so good in bed, she'd have been tossed to the side ages ago.

"Err…not right now." He shrugged pushing her slightly off him.

"Why not?" Rachel said, immediately turning angry. _God, what is with her mood swings?! _Nathan thought frustrated.

"Because I'm just not in the mood." He got up as he heard laughter from a few feet away. He looked over and saw the three sitting there laughing at something Haley was saying. His eyes zoned in on the blonde, taking in how beautiful she looked when she laughed. Without another word he got up and went to join the group.

"What's this about?" Haley heard a deep, sexy voice ask from behind her, before she could continue. She looked up to see Nathan looking at them all laughing aloud. He sat down next to Luke as Rachel huffed out loud and sat next to him.

"Oh, I was just telling the guys about New Year's party we had way back. And my brothers got a little too drunk." She said as Rachel moved over and practically hung herself off Nathan, almost as though trying to tell everyone that they were an item. Peyton and Brooke rolled their eyes, being used to this. Rachel always got territorial over Nathan, and since Haley was new, the slut was obviously warning her to stay away from him.

_Nathan doesn't seem too happy about her dangling all over him_ _though,_ Haley noticed and for some reason that made her feel a tiny bit better.

"So then what happened?" Brooke asked sensing the tension from THA's worst couple, and not wanting it to blow up into _another_ argument.

"Well before he began hurling all over the place, Chris started running around our house singing about how he was a fairy. He even found wings from an old costume of mine and put them on." The guys were laughing out loud at this point. "And _then_ Brian jumped off the couch and broke our coffee table because he was trying to twirl through the air like a ballerina in the Nutcracker…Mum and dad were pissed when they got home."

"My god Haley, I think I just lost any respect I'd ever have for you brothers." Lucas smiled.

"Yes it was very funny," Rachel said sarcastically, "Though I didn't really figure you to be much of a party girl there Holly." Rachel smirked with her arms round Nathan.

"It's Haley." The petite blonde responded. She wasn't stupid, she knew that Rachel didn't like her; she'd got that impression from the minute they met two days ago. Brooke told her not to take it personally, since Rachel hated everyone (except Nathan) and everyone hated her apparently.

"And who said you could judge her anyway?!" Brooke started as Peyton opted for just giving her a dirty look. Lucas and Nathan groaned knowing another fight was gonna break out.

"Oh look, surprise surprise, bitch is being a Brooke. Well I don't believe I was talking to you slut!" Rachel's voice rose.

"This coming from the Skank Queen of THA herself! Tell me do you ever get tired from all the guys you've been screwing behind Nathan's back?" Brooke snapped out loud as Peyton and Lucas noticed people looking over. Haley was looking in-between the girls and then at Nathan who just looked pissed now.

"Brooke!" he shouted at her, "Do you wanna just shut the hell up?!"

"No Nathan! I'm sick of you defending your little whore over your own friends - even when you know what she's like yourself. I mean seriously, the sex must be out of this world for you to have kept her around this long!" Brooke retaliated. She then got up and charged off. Peyton immediately got up and ran after her throwing another dirty look Rachel's way.

Lucas and Haley could practically feel the anger vibes emanating from the pissed couple in front of them and he tipped his head at her, indicating they should leave. She immediately got up and they hurried in the direction of the two girls that left before them.

"Well….that was…intense." Haley commented as she and Lucas walked further.

"Trust me; if we had stuck around any longer, it would have been a lot worse." Lucas replied. And judging by the loud clash of voices they could hear from behind them, he was right.

* * *

"NO! I ordered 10 sets of outdoor tables, with matching chairs, covers and sombreros! How hard is that to process exactly?!" Brooke yelled down her phone. 

"Is she always this…?" Haley began watching her new friend pace up and down agitatedly.

"Crazy? Yeah…especially when it comes to party planning." Peyton replied in the same position as Haley.

"Not solero! _Sombrero! _Why the hell would I want 10 packs of ice cream you nutcase!...Yes…that's exactly what I want…you know those umbrella things that you stick on top of the tables in case it rains!...Yes…I _know_ the weathers great but just in case…look…oh yeah I totally understand - just get me a sombrero with each table or I'll come down there and shove one up your self-righteous ass!"

"Nicely done Davis." Peyton said as Brooke flipped the phone shut.

"Honestly, sometimes I think I work with complete morons." She lay down on her bed with a sigh.

"How are we on booze?" She mumbled

"All done." Haley responded, "We officially have a keg large enough to intoxicate the entire population."

"Perfect, and the posters?"

"Just finished, here you go." Peyton handed her a flyer and watched as she gazed appreciatively at it.

Haley looked it over too, "Wow Peyton you really have a knack for this stuff."

"Thanks" She said proudly

"Alright I need to get Mouth to get hundreds of copies done pronto, by this time in 2 days _everyone_ should know about the beach party."

Something just occurred to Haley – "Everyone? How many people are gonna be there exactly?"

"Oh, probably the entire school, or at least juniors onwards, not to mention most of the people that'll probably crash there for booze or whatever…Hey P.Sawyer could you just change one thing here…"

As Brooke and Peyton discussed the flyer Haley all of a sudden felt sick. She hadn't really considered how many people would actually be at this party. And now according to Brooke there would be an endless number. God, she could practically feel all the weird looks and comments already, people wondering who she is and where the hell she suddenly popped over from. Feeling suddenly claustrophobic she decided she had to get some air.

"Hey guys I think I'm just gonna go for a walk okay?" Haley told the girls who both looked up from the poster.

"A walk? Where? And by yourself?" Brooke asked confused

"I just really feel like stretching my legs, and getting out of here for a bit."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Peyton asked kindly

"No, it's cool. I just wanna clear my head – I'll be back in a bit."

"Alright, ooh, New Girl! Take your phone." Brooke told her just in case she 'got lost' and needed to be directed back.

_10 minutes later in the grounds…._

Haley sighed content as she strolled down a random pathway. She felt her nerves slowly wash away as she kept her pace. She always did this when she felt nervous or anxious about something – she walked. It would help make her calm, well that and singing, but she didn't feel like bursting into song back in the dorm room. So she opted for the next best thing, getting the heck out of there.

_This party probably won't be that bad, I'm just blowing things out of proportion. _She reasoned with her mind, _besides Brooke, Peyton and the entire gang will be there, so it's not like I'll be alone. Yeah, and it might be a good thing even…get to know more people before school starts again. _

Thinking things over she hadn't realised where she ended up until she actually got there. She had unknowingly managed to wander back to the same court where she'd met all of Brooke's friends on her first day.

She smiled at the familiar surroundings, her smile growing even wider at the sight of the lone figure in the court playing with a basketball. She watched as he moved across the court, so smoothly, his actions so graceful as he ran across the court and shot a basket; holding onto the rim as it went in. _Wow,_ clearly Nathan Scott wasn't just talented…he also had a passion for the game. A rare passion you see in someone when they are fortunate to be doing something they love, with such ease, style and determination. She watched as he glided across the tarmac, before shooting the next one.

A few baskets later she noticed him come to an abrupt halt. Confused she noticed how he just stood there for a second holding the ball over his head, not having moved. Then he took the shot, making it seem so simple, as with what seemed very little effort, the ball swished through the net. Again.

She doubted Nathan Scott ever did get an airball.

"Were you planning on just standing there and watching me all day?" His voice startles her as he turns so that he is now facing her. _How the hell did he even know I was here? I didn't make a sound!_

Feeling a slight blush creep onto her cheeks at being caught out staring she decides to back out while she can. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…I'll just let you practice…" She starts backing up.

"No! It's okay. You can stay…I don't really mind." His voice sounded a bit too eager, even to himself. _Yeah well, who cares…you've finally got a chance to actually talk to her without everyone else around_. Nathan would be lying if he said he hadn't been waiting for an opportunity like this. For some reason he felt an attraction to this girl, and not just physically. Like she was drawing him to her and he wanted to know why.

"I'm surprised to see you out by yourself." He commented as she walked over, "Every time I've seen you so far you have at least one Brooke attached to your side." Haley wasn't sure but for a second she thought she'd heard a little disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah she didn't want me going anywhere by myself, afraid I'd get lost in the many halls of this place" she commented as she took a seat on the bench he was playing near.

"How'd you manage to shake her off?"

"Oh I just pointed out 'Orlando Bloom' in the distance; she shrieked yelling 'where!' while I ran in the opposite direction." Haley claimed nonchalantly

"Really?" Nathan asked not seeing her facial expression change

"No," Haley chuckled, "Though I'm tempted to see if that works now." Nathan smiled and sat down beside her holding the basketball in his hands. "She was really distracted with all her party planning so it wasn't that hard."

"Oh god, you've been exposed to Hurricane Brooke." Seeing her confused expression Nathan elaborated, "it's this whole other side of Brooke you only get to see when she's either angry, stressed, vengeful... or planning a party."

Haley laughed, a sound Nathan found wonderful to hear. "Yeah, I noticed she gets a little carried away…"

"Please, that's putting it lightly," Nathan said, "Last year she was in charge of arranging the Winter Formal and before anyone could get a word in she'd pulled out her bible."

"Her what?"

"Her 'Party Bible'. It's this scrapbook she's been building up since god knows when…its got locations, pictures, buffet services, even flower arrangements."

"You're kidding." Nathan shook his head, "But…she never once pulled out this so-called party bible"

"Yeah, it's like top-secret or some shit like that. She doesn't let anyone see or touch it. Skills once asked and she practically bit his head off."

"Wow. I have to say though, I've never met someone as constantly hyper as Brooke before." Haley said good-naturedly

"Explains why you're trying to get away from her. You can only handle so much Brooke at once." Nathan said cheekily

"Hey, I can handle her fine thanks." Haley grinned, "I just needed to some quiet time, it's been really hectic the past couple a days."

"I can imagine," Nathan looked at her thoughtfully. He figured anyone would need a time out after moving somewhere new and then meeting all sorts of different people, "You came to the right place though."

Haley looked at him curiously and he stated, "Courts are always the first place I come when I need to get my mind off everything."

Haley watched him sitting there serenely aimlessly twirling the basketball around in his hands. She was initially surprised to find it so easy to talk to Nathan. Brooke had informed her a bit about the guy, enough for Haley to know that he was some kind of basketball star. No, wait, correction – _the_ basketball star. Not knowing much else about him besides the fact that he was incredibly hot, and taken, she'd felt a little intimidated to actually talk to him. Yet, here they were seated next to each other on a bench in a comfortable silence – not awkward, but strangely comfortable, as if they'd known each other long enough to be in this kind of position.

Nathan tried to concentrate on the basketball in his hand. He tried, but his gaze kept wondering over to the blonde girl sitting next to him. He was quite amazed with the fact that he was managing to actually have a conversation with a girl. That he'd actually been in the presence of a girl for more than 10 minutes and it hadn't resulted with his hand up her shirt. _Not that I wouldn't wanna go there…_ he thought looking her over. She seemed to be effortlessly pretty. A natural beauty. And what made her all the more attractive was that she was seemingly unaware of it.

"It's your oasis." She stated simply shaking Nathan from his thoughts.

"Sorry?" He was confused as to what the heck she was talking about.

"Basketball." She shrugged, "When you want to get away from everything…reality, whatever…its something you can do by yourself and just be…content, at peace. It's your oasis."

He just watched as the words came from her mouth while she stared at a fixed point in the distance. Having realised what she just came out with she blushed slightly and Nathan felt a stirring in the pit of his belly. _Since when does blushing spark a reaction? Although she does look really pretty when she blushes…_

"Well I think you're forgetting one thing… I play basketball in front of a wide audience. I'd hardly call that peaceful or content."

She looked around, "Well where's you're audience now Scott?" She grinned playfully indicating the empty court.

"Okay you may be right," he smiled back. _Man he's gorgeous when he smiles…He should really do it more often…aww, and he has a cute little dimple on one side, how adorable!...Wait, did he just say something? _

Cutting off her inner ramblings she noticed he was looking at her pointedly, "Sorry, what did you say?"

"So what would be your oasis James?" She didn't know if it was because it was the first actual reference he'd made to her, but she felt a shiver hearing her name in his husky tone. Granted it was her last name, but still.

"And what makes you think I have one?"

"Well, everyone needs to get away from reality every now and then. So you've gotta have a way of doing that." He looked at her expectantly.

"Ok, let me rephrase that…" She smiles, "what makes you think I'll tell you?"

"Well I told you mine, so it's only fair." Nathan replied enjoying the casual conversation. Though not as much as he was enjoying watching her smile.

"Actually, _I_ told you yours." She said wittily

"I see – so that's how it's going to be James."

"I don't know what you mean Scott."

"You're gonna get me on a technicality?" He grinned over at her.

"Of course. Guys are just too easy."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well actually, I did read somewhere that it's been scientifically proven that men are in fact slower than women."

She inwardly smiled at the way Nathan scoffed suddenly. "Oh please, that is a complete load of bull. Men are just as clever if not more than women! You must have read it in some 'girl power' article, it's obviously not true."

"It's quite touching how you're totally defending males everywhere. But sadly it is true. You guys just aren't as perceptive as us girls." Silence...then...

"Prove it."

"Huh?"

"Nothing is true without proof. So prove it," he said smugly, raising his eyebrows. _Damn, if he doesn't look hotter_. _Urgh, focus Haley, Nathan Scott just challenged you!_

"Okay," She said slowly, "Well let's see…yesterday there was this incident with Tim he-"

"Tim doesn't count," Nathan interrupted suddenly, "he's a complete idiot."

"Fine, how about this. Brooke was telling me about this time when Skills was completely tricked by this cheerleader, she used this whole reverse psychology thing-"

"Yeah but Skills is a player, he'll do anything for a skirt. His perceptiveness won't reach beyond a pair of legs." He interrupted again and Haley could suddenly see herself winning this little debacle.

"How about Mouth, he's a guy. And I've only been here a few days but I can already tell he's not very perceptive, he has no idea that girls could actually like him as more than a frie-"

"Yeah, but he's always been insecure and a little sensitive, doesn't mean he's not perceptive."

"Well…ok… I was actually talking to Lucas about this the other day, and he seemed to agree with me-"

"Well you should listen to everything Lucas says, he's a twerp." Nathan shrugged and then noticed her looking at him pointedly.

"What?"

"Other than the fact that you totally just proved my point?"

"Huh?"

"Well, four of your closest male friends and I love how you excused their imperceptiveness; one's an idiot, one's a player, one's too insecure and the other's a twerp. Really, great job." She smirked at him.

Before Nathan could respond her cell rang and she answered it. As she spoke to the other person he just found himself shaking his head. _Man this Haley James is something else._ _Beauty and brains apparently_. Nathan had never liked a smart girl before; they'd never grabbed his attention. But it was safe to say that this particular smart girl had certainly managed to get his attention and not just that, but hold onto it too.

"God, that was Brooke growing panicked about food catering, do you even get food catering for beach parties?"

"God only knows," Nathan muttered.

"You'd think she was planning a wedding."

"Well this party will probably be huge; lots of people are going to be there." He noticed how she frowned a little at his comment. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." _Man I have got to stop looking so transparent._ The last thing she wanted was to come across as a nervous wreck in front of Nathan.

"Come on, I can tell something's bothering you." He said cautiously, he didn't want her to think he was nosy or prying. He simply felt an urge to fix whatever was making her upset.

"Really it's nothing. I'm just a little nervous that's all. You know…being the new girl, and this party is the first time that everyone will see me…" She trailed off but Nathan could sense her apprehension. "I guess I just don't like being the centre of attention."

_Well on that note she's definitely different from the rest of the girls at THA. _Nathan knew that most of the girls there constantly try and get as much attention as possible, and the fact that she didn't follow that trend said a lot about her. "Hey, look – you've got nothing to be nervous about. Sure there'll probably be lots of people staring, but it's not like you'll be by yourself. You've got Brooke, Peyton, Lucas, Skills, Jake, Mouth and me." He gave her a charming smile,

"And Tim too I guess," he added as an afterthought, "Though as long as you don't advertise that fact much, you'll be fine."

Haley laughs a little at that. She also noticed that Nathan hadn't mentioned his girlfriend Rachel at all. _Wonder why that is._

Nathan felt somewhat proud that he was able to cheer her up so easily. And he also felt a strange sort of punch-in-the-gut type feeling when he heard her laugh. _What the hell was that?_

"Besides, even if you weren't new, you'd be getting a lot of attention." He stated whilst smirking that oh so sexy smirk of his.

"And why would that be?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed – you're kinda hot Haley James." He said, oozing charm as he instantly looked her up and down and Haley felt the compliment go straight to her cheeks which reddened straight away.

Nathan could see her blushing and again felt a weird feeling in his stomach, only this time it was a fluttering sensation. _Seriously did I not eat something right earlier?_

But what really caught him by surprise was the sudden mischievous light that had entered Haley's eyes and the playful smile on her face.

She got up sighing dramatically, "You flatter me Scott, but I'm afraid it'll never work between us…" She pouted theatrically whilst holding a hand on her heart.

Holding back a laugh he played along, "And prey tell, why is that?"

She smirks at him this time, "Because I'm waaaay out of your league."

And with those parting words she turns and walks away with a simple "catch you later" thrown over her shoulder.

He smiles at her antics as he watched her go. _That Haley James sure is something._


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright here you go guys, chapter 3. Please let me know what you think! And I wanted to add thanks to people who wished me luck on my interview, just thought I'd say I got the offer:)**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"_Sometimes the silence of a friend can be worse than the words of an enemy." __**– Unknown**_

"Hey girlies, what d'ya think?" Brooke called to Haley and Peyton, all currently in a department store at the mall. She came out the changing room to show off her new find.

"It's black, sexy, and a total 'pick me up'." She said suggestively while indicating the bust where sure enough, her breasts were practically jutting out the top. "What say you Missy James?"

"Well, lovely though it is Brooke…" she started thinking how to tell her new friend that she'll probably look like a prostitute turning up in that top. "I think it may be a bit too much..." _or too little_ she thought eyeing how much skin the top showed off exactly.

"What do you mean New Girl?"

"I think what Haley's trying to say Brooke is we're going to a beach party remember – not the local 'Phoenix' strip club." Peyton deadpanned. _Apparently there's no sugar-coating it,_ Haley thought.

"Harsh ! It's not that bad." But seeing the identical looks on her friend's faces she went back to take it off. "This sucks," she grumbles "The party is tomorrow and I haven't found anything to wear yet!"

"Brooke, you've brought 5 bags worth of shopping already!" Haley claimed though it came out a little more whiny than she intended _man I think the hunger is getting to me_. Brooke had dragged them both out to go mall shopping at the crack of dawn insisting that they _must_ get new outfits for the 'end-of-summer' party. Haley barely had a breakfast and now that lunch was here she actually felt like her stomach was eating itself.

"Oh that was just necessities ," Brooke said while coming out the fitting rooms.

"Yeah Brooke, you really _needed _those new pair of Jimmy Choos." Peyton drawled sarcastically.

"Of course! They totally go with that grey designer skirt I just bought!" Brooke justified as her two companions chuckled.

"'Just bought' being the key words there Brookie." Haley teased to which Brooke just stuck her tongue out.

"You're just jealous" She sniffed.

"So where to now?" Peyton asked, she'd already got her outfit which consisted of a bright orange Sunkist top with a denim miniskirt.

"Okay I have to interrupt for the sake of your lives and my sanity, can we please go get some food before I die of starvation!" Haley burst out causing her new friends to laugh.

"Alright New Girl no need to get your panties in a bunch, if you were hungry you should have just said so."

Haley decided not to point out that she had in fact, three stores ago. It had unfortunately been at that point that Brooke had spotted those 'must have' Jimmy Choos leaving her grumbling stomach to be forgotten.

Several minutes later they sat down with trays of fast food at Burger King. Haley had to control herself as she finally got to satisfy her appetite.

_Mmmm god this tastes good. _She closed her eyes savouring the bite of her burger, only to open them later and see two sets of amused eyes watching her.

"What?"

"Did you just moan?" Brooke asked as Peyton laughed while grabbing a handful of chips.

"I can't help it Brooke, I don't have the stamina for this kinda thing. And when I get tired, I get hungry. And when I get hungry, I need food."

Brooke just shook her head amusedly before taking a slurp of her shake. "You are a sad person when deprived of food H. James."

"And don't forget it," Haley joked.

"So, anyway, weird food fetishes out the way," Brooke chuckled while Haley opted for just poking her tongue out. "About the party-"

"Oh for the love of Pete! Can we not talk about anything else but the friggin' party!" Peyton said dramatically. Brooke had been talking/discussing/pondering/shrieking non-stop about the party since she started planning it. And quite frankly it was starting to make her head spin.

"Excuse me . But in case you haven't noticed, this isn't just _any _old party, it's very important!... And who the hell is Pete?" Brooke finished confused while Haley looked on amused, too infatuated with her burger to say anything.

"It's an expression Brooke." Peyton deadpanned. "And why is it so important anyway?"

"Well…" Brooke gave her a 'Duh!' look, "It's Haley's 'coming-out' party." She emphasised using air quotes.

"I wasn't aware you were in the closet to begin with Haley." Peyton smirked looking over at the little blonde who just shrugged, still not bothered about anything but satisfying her hunger.

"Omigod Peyton get your mind out of the gutter, I wasn't talking about that and you know it. H. James is definitely not the 'girl-on-girl' type." Brooke finished somewhat unsure. "At least I don't think she is." Both girls turned to the petite blonde as she washed her food down with some shake.

"What?" She said in between taking a sip. _Why on earth are they looking at me like that? Okay, maybe I zoned out a little, but I was hungry dammit and it's not like I can focus on anything but food when my stomachs going a mile a minute!_

"Oh nothing," Peyton shrugged, "We were just wondering if you had any lesbian tendencies?"

_I mean who can really go a whole day without food? And they expect me to - Wait, what!_ Her mouth having not connected with her brain seemed happy to carry on slurping, while her brain seemed to have completely shut down. Of course, the ungraceful result had Haley suddenly choking rather unflatteringly.

"Omigod Peyton, what the hell? Are you trying to kill the girl!" Brooke immediately leapt out her seat while patting Haley on the back until her chokes subsided.

"Well at least we got our answer," Peyton smiled, "You alright Haley?"

"Er yeah…" Haley got out between wheezes, "I'm fine…and straight I might add." Her two friends laughed at that.

"I never had any doubt." Brooke grinned at her ignoring Peyton's raised eyebrow in her direction. The brunette then lowered a voice and leaned in as though telling her some kind of secret. "But you know, if you ever do want to experiment, I'm totally cool with it."

"Brooke! I'm not gay! And trust me when I say I don't want to experiment with anyone who can fill out a bra or talk about clothes and shopping." Haley added.

"So on that note you'd totally do Peyton." Brooke smirked as she witnessed incredulous looks pass over both their faces.

"BROOKE!" They both yelled before ranting on.

"I'm not gay, never been gay and never planning _on_ being gay!..."

"I can totally fill out a bra!..."

"…Needless to say but I happen to find _men _hot… and attractive…in a hot, attractive, _manly _way…"

"…I may not have Jordan-size jugs but I'm not _completely_ flat-chested…"

"…Not that I'm against…you know, gays and stuff…I just really _don't_ swing that way…"

"…I mean, is it this top? I knew I shouldn't have brought it. It totally makes me look boyish…"

"…Omigod, do I actually look the type? I mean…is there something about me that makes people think I'm into girls? How do I make it stop!" Haley panicked.

"Oh quit your yapping Haley! You're not the one stuck inside a body of a thirteen year old boy! I even have chicken legs!"

"GUYS STOP!" Brooke shrieked silencing them at once. She then noticed the rest of the people in the joint looking their way she just smiled innocently _maybe that was a little too loud_. "Oops…anyway," she reverted her tone back to normal, "will you guys give it a rest? Geez, it was a joke! If I'd known I'd unleashed two screeching insecure hyenas I would've kept my mouth shut."

"I wish you would have," Peyton muttered, and Haley noticed she was still eyeing her chest, and fiddling around with her top.

"Look – New Girl, anyone with half a brain could tell that you're into guys, so stop worrying about nothing. And P. Sawyer, pulling at your top is not going to somehow make your breasts enlarge, so I suggest you stop it and not wear something so loose and frumpy next time." Brooke finished glad to see that the girls seemed to accept her demands.

"So as I was saying before you guys interrupted with your self-pitying tirades," Brooke said ignoring their glares, "New Girl, this is gonna be your first party, where everyone'll be seeing you for the first time. Therefore it is a significant part of your new life at THA."

"Will people really care about some random new girl that much?" Haley asked.

"Did you just say 'significant'?" Peyton said at the same time.

Ignoring Peyton's remark Brooke answered, "H. James, not a lot of interesting stuff ever really happens around these parts – besides the basketball tournament. So a hot, young, blonde new thing parading up and down the halls of the academy is gonna get many curious looks/wondering stares/tongues wagging…you get my drift."

"Right I guess I didn't think of it like that." Haley sighed.

"Did you just say 'parading'?" Peyton commented and again being ignored.

"Well that's why you've got me Roomie; I am your personal guide on 'How To Start A New School With A Bang'. Think of me as your saviour really," she grinned showcasing her dimples.

Haley smiled at her while Peyton opened her mouth, "Did you just sa-"

"Saviour? Yes I did! You hang out with Missy-4.2GPA-James here and try not to pick up a thing or two. But I'll have you know this attack on my cleverness is a little hurtful ."

"Your cleverness?" Peyton repeated smirking slightly, and seeing that Brooke had no idea what she said wrong Peyton just laughed shaking her head, "Don't ever change ."

"Don't plan to," Brooke remarked, "So New Girl how psyched are you about tomorrow?"

Haley had no choice but to answer appropriately or she had a feeling she would have to face the Wrath of Brooke Davis. They sat like that talking more about the party and the outfits they bought.

"Ooooh, that reminds me," Brooke cried, "It may take a while in the morning to set up, and the boys won't be able to get it done by themselves…or do anything right for that matter. So we have to supervise bright and early."

"What is this 'we'?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah I'm not much of a team player in the mornings." Haley said trying to get out of it.

"'We' as in you guys and my hot self have to be up and helping out first thing in the morning, and neither of you is getting out of it. I need all the workers I can get…and that means no going on random nature hikes through the woods by yourself anymore New Girl." The way Brooke was looking at her so stern made Haley want to burst out laughing.

"Brooke I went for a _walk_ not a nature hike…I wouldn't even know how to hike." Haley rambled, "And besides I wasn't by myself."

"But you weren't with anyone when you came back." Peyton pointed out.

"No, but I ended up walking over to the courts where you introduced me to everyone the other day and I just ran into him there."

Brooke's ears immediately perked up. "_Him?_ There's a guy involved, New Girl you're here for 5 minutes and you're already having secret rendezvous' with a boy toy?"

Haley chuckled at the mad gleam that had entered Brooke's eyes, and the genuine curiosity on Peyton's expression. _Oh boy, those faces aren't good._

"Woah there Brookie…I'm not having secret rendez-anythings with anyone, and the so called boy toy was actually Nathan."

"Nathan?" Brooke looked confused, "You mean the whole time you were gone the other day… you were at the courts with Nathan?"

"Yeah," Haley said nonchalantly.

"Nathan…as in Nathan Scott?" Peyton clarified.

"Er…yeah, though I didn't realise you had any other Nathan's in the school."

"We don't," Brooke dismissed, "So what were you doing?"

"We just hung out, talked for a bit." Haley said simply, _why are they asking so many questions anyway?_

"What the hell did you have to talk to Nathan about?" Brooke said looking really confused now.

"I don't know - just random stuff…chit chat really." _What is the big deal?_

"You mean you and Nathan…Nathan Scott that is, sat in the courts and conversed in 'chit chat' for an hour?" Peyton said with an odd look of disbelief on her face.

"Well when you say it like that, it just sounds weird. What exactly is the problem here?" She noticed the weird looks passing between the two. "Guys?"

"Just a little shocked and kinda curious as to where this is going." Brooke commented

"Where what is going?" _Seriously what is she on about?_

"What we mean is, it's just weird." Peyton elaborated, "Nathan doesn't really _talk_ to girls. Sure, he'll ask me for notes in class, or tell Brooke when to shut up, but he doesn't usually sit and have a chat with a member of the opposite sex."

"Yeah, either he's flirting or screwing, he's never really been much of a talker, I mean why do you think he's with that hoe." Brooke added which just confused Haley further.

"Well aren't you guys his friends, don't you talk to him?"

"Well sure, we did, before he started dating that bitchy tramp. But even then it was usually when we were in the group together, or in class. We didn't randomly get together to sit down and _chat_." Brooke said seriously.

"Really?" Haley thought that was odd, considering she's managed to get into nice and easy conversation with him. "Well it wasn't like an in-depth talk or anything…he was just being friendly I guess."

"Maybe," Peyton said but she highly doubted it.

"Ok…well I think now that H. James has had her fill we should get going. I need to hit at least five more stores on the second floor before we go up…" As Brooke went on about some sale at Macys, Peyton and Haley could only share a groan – this was gonna be a long day.

* * *

"Man, I feel like my legs are made of weights, I can barely walk another step." Peyton groaned. It was almost six, the mall was closing and Brooke had been adamant that she wouldn't leave until the shutters started going down.

"Trust me I know, I'm starting to feel faint…" Haley added.

"God you're both such amateurs!" Brooke huffed. "The way you guys look, you'd think we'd ran a marathon."

"We may as well have," Peyton grumbled.

"I definitely got my cardio for the week." Haley agreed.

"Well since you both seem like you're going to drop dead any second, how about we hit Starbucks. We can get some caffeine into you, that's bound to wake you up."

"Whatever…as long as there's seats, I'm there." Peyton cried as Haley nodded along.

They walked a block over to the nearest Starbucks, though both Haley and Peyton could've sworn it was longer. And on entering they didn't get any happier seeing as how packed the place was.

_Great what do we do now, if I don't sit down soon I'm gonna have to amputate my legs. _Haley looked around desperately looking for anywhere to sit, at this point she really wasn't fussy as to where. _Alright fine, if we don't find any seats, then we're just going to have to park ourselves on the floor. It doesn't matter if it looks disgustingly dirty, and I'm pretty sure the guy in front of me just spat his chewing gum on it…but desperate times call for desperate measu- _

"Haley!" Her head snapped up in response, looking around to see if someone was in fact calling out to her. _I definitely wasn't hearing things right?_

"Hey James!" Haley finally turned to her left where she was surprised to see one hot looking Nathan Scott standing up obviously trying to get her attention. "Over here," he gestured for her to come over.

Turning to inform the girls she noticed that they'd spotted him too – _well he was shouting across the café, not to mention he's tall, dark and hot; a complete recipe for attention. _

Brooke offered to get their coffees as Peyton and Haley hurried their way over. As she neared them Haley could make out the other occupants of the table being Skills, Tim and Mouth.

"Hey guys," she smiled as they greeted both the girls. They all laughed as they watched both girls quite literally collapse onto the seats available, looking completely exhausted.

"Yo, what the hell happened to you guys?" Skills asked taking in their worn faces.

"Shopping," Haley said simply as they guys remained looking clueless. Of course…how would they understand the physical exertion and mental capacity the art of shopping entailed? Plus the processes of trying things on, queuing up in stores, negotiating prices and having the occasional catfight with some bitch who claimed to have eyed the perfect strappy heels in your hands first. _No, men will never understand the physical and mental stamina required for this particular activity._

"Yeah? Well you guys try shopping with Hurricane Davis for ten hours straight, during which 9½ hours you're deprived of food and water, and doing it all in heels I might add!" Peyton exclaimed leaving no room for discussion as to how she was feeling.

Silence.

Then…

"Well that was stupid," Tim piped up, "you should have worn sneakers – no one _told_ you to wear heels. I don't get why girls buy them and wear them, when all you do is moan and complain about them after."

Nathan was silently willing Tim to shut up. Seeing the girls now sending glares to his friend he knew that that had been the wrong thing to say. The girls had spent a whole day on their feet, dragging themselves aimlessly around stores, while being starved for most of the time…the last thing they wanted to hear were tactless comments such as _that _coming from Tim's mouth.

The other guys shook their heads as Haley turns her head towards Nathan. "Still don't think men are _not_ perceptive?"

Nathan shrugs. "I told you Tim didn't count."

"Alright girlies," Brooke waltzed over "Here's your coffees." The boys laughed as they saw Peyton's and Haley's faces instantly go from shooting death rays at Tim to lighting up as they breathed in the scent of mocha cappuccinos.

"Aah pure heaven…" Peyton sighed dreamily.

"I'll drink to that." Haley said as they both took a sip.

"So…" Brooke looked around the table realising that certain members weren't present. Peyton was doing the same thing. It was almost instinctively that it happened; both girls opened their mouths at the same time, not knowing the same question pried on the edge of their tongues.

"Where's Lucas?"

And just like that a sudden tension swept over the table. Haley was quite perceptive by nature, but even if she wasn't there was no mistaking the way that Brooke and Peyton suddenly looked at each other in shock and then avoided eye contact. _Okay, I'm pretty sure that best friends aren't supposed to act like that_.

She also noticed how the guys all began to shuffle uncomfortably too; even Tim had the decency to stay quiet. _I have a feeling there's a lot of drama behind this little situation._

Moth was the first to speak up, clearing his throat he answered, "He had to help Jake out."

"With what?" Peyton asked curious.

"Oh…er…"

"Some plays," Skills jumped in. Now the girls just got weird looks on their faces.

"Isn't it a little early to work on plays?" Peyton asked.

"Naw, you know how it is." Skills said, "Whitey wants us dawgs to be fully prepared this year if we wanna go to the state championship. He's been grilling us to start practice now."

"Well that sucks." Peyton commented as the boys nodded along, except Tim who sat there with a confused look on his face for a couple of seconds. He then just decided to shake it off and tuned back in.

A ringing sound emits through the silence and Nathan quickly takes out his cell. He then rolls his eyes on seeing the name on screen before pressing the call button.

"Yeah?" He answered and Haley couldn't help but notice that he already seemed annoyed with talking to the person on the other end, and he hadn't even started the conversation yet.

As the guys started talking about classes coming up soon, Haley joined in and noticed that Brooke had seemed awfully quiet and still was. _She hasn't spoken up since the Lucas comment. _She wondered what could possibly have happened, what kind of dreadful memory could have been brought up for hyperactive, bubbly Brooke to become so despondent just like that.

"I'm at Starbucks." She heard Nathan say.

"What? Why are you asking me that?" Nathan asked incredulously causing Haley's ears to perk up a bit more.

"Of course not! I'm here with the guys." At that point Peyton laughed at something Skills just said.

Nathan frowned and Haley could clearly hear the voice on the other line practically biting his head off. _Who is that?_

"No one…no it actually was!...Fine it was Peyton, I think…No! I already told you I'm here with the guys – what the hell is your problem exactly?"

_Aaah…_ it dawned on Haley as she figured it out. Figures Rachel couldn't leave him in peace for a second. Who phones their boyfriend up and immediately starts accusing them of getting off with some other girl? Haley really didn't understand why they bothered keeping up this relationship. Its clear neither made the other very happy, she'd witnessed them a few times together but every time they'd ended up in a major blow-out.

"Look do what you want I don't really care…whatever…bye." Nathan hung up and sighed exasperated. Rachel always managed to take it out of him. It was like anytime she suspected he was happy or in a good mood, she'd find a way to ruin it somehow. _Typical_.

Looking around the group he saw everyone else having a good time, laughing or talking. Well except Brooke…but that was expected_, she's probably got images of Luke on top Peyton in her head right now. Ok, ewww…that was something I shouldn't ever think about let alone visualize!_

Not that he was completely mean or unsympathetic, but Brooke and Peyton were Lucas' mess and he was in no way getting involved.

Turning his head a little he observed the last girl, Haley James – the one whose smile he couldn't get out of his head. Seeing her laugh and chat with his friends he realised that she is the type of girl that most guys would like to picture themselves with. The total package.

She was smart, funny, quirky, sweet. Not to mention hot as hell. She was easy to talk to, quick-witted, playful, and Nathan had it seen it yet but he figured she had a bit of a feisty streak in her. Why couldn't he be with someone like her instead of Rachel? He figured being with a girl like Haley, there wouldn't be nearly as many complications, fights or well…cheating. No being with someone like her, he may actually have the chance to be happy. He smiled wandering what that would be like.

"Nathan!" On reflex he groaned.

"Rachel." He said seeing her sashay her way to their table. He didn't know why but lately he had the feeling that she was getting extra clingy. Which wasn't really like Rachel Gatina at all.

"Hey people!" She said mainly eyeing the guys who all merely mumbled small replies in response. None of them really liked Rachel but they wouldn't say anything. The girls looked on in distaste at the redhead's usual attire. A too short mini-skirt and too low halter top. _Very tasteful indeed,_ Haley thought sarcastically.

Completely ignoring the three girls at the table she made he way round the booth and launched herself into the lap of an unsuspecting Nathan.

"Hey boyfriend," She tried leaning in straight away but Nathan wasn't having it.

"Rachel what are you doing here?" Nathan asked. _I knew it, she completely sensed me being happy and next thing I know she's in my face, totally raining on my parade. _

"I'm here to see you of course." She says huskily while wrapping her arms around his neck, not noticing his stiffness at the contact.

"Look Rache-" But before he could get another word in she'd latched onto his mouth and proceeded to quite literally suck the life out of him. At least that's what it looked like to everyone else at the table.

Showing similar looks of discomfort and disgust finally someone pipes up and Haley's glad to see that it was Brooke having finally snapped out of whatever spell she was under.

"You know, if I wanted to see free porn I'd have stayed in." The fiery brunette claimed.

Hearing this Rachel broke off from Nathan who looked severely embarrassed and uncomfortable. And Haley was confused to find him avoiding looking in her direction at all.

"Well someone's cranky. Don't be jealous just cause you aren't getting laid."

"As opposed to you Rach, who's fucking every guy in a 50 mile radius." Peyton added defending her friend. Haley was surprised to see that Brooke looked surprised at this.

"Cut the crap Peyton." Nathan glared at the curly haired blonde this time who just shrugged not sorry at all for her comment. Did everyone seriously get a kick out of demeaning him to his face all the time?

"Don't sweat it babe. They're just being pissy because they're both holding out for Lucas and apparently he's not doing either of them right now…" Everyone sat shocked as Brooke and Peyton simultaneously drew in sharp intakes of breath, and there was no mistaking the fire in both their eyes.

"…or is it that he did you _both_ again?" Rachel smirked satisfied at the pure looks of fury on the girl's faces. Haley realised she may have figured what the history behind the three was, but she couldn't believe that Rachel had the nerve to bring up such things to their faces. And why wasn't Nathan doing anything to get Rachel to shut up? She'd just trash talked his friends _and _his brother after all.

Brooke immediately switched her gaze from Rachel to Nathan, waiting for it, for him to say anything to defend his friends, heck to even defend his brother! Seeing him avoid her eyes she immediately stood up seething, muttering a simple "Fucking typical!" before she marched away, anger clear in her steps.

The rest of the guys got up straight after Brooke claiming different excuses for why they had to leave right now. Haley looked over at Peyton who wasn't faring off much better than Brooke. Her fists were clenched by her sides and her usually pale face was practically red as she fumed at the manipulative bitch sitting in front of her.

Nudging her arm Haley indicated for her to get up. She figured they may as well leave. She didn't want to be left here and she was pretty sure if she didn't get Peyton out of here soon, she was likely to pounce across the table and start choking the whore to death.

Nathan sensed Peyton and Haley getting up too, and only felt safe to look up once they'd turned their backs. However he wasn't so lucky since Peyton turned back round at that moment.

Looking directly at him she just said, "I hope you're happy with her Nate." Staring him hard in the eyes she stated, "I really hope she's worth losing all your friends over." And with that she turned and walked off too. If Nathan didn't already feel like crap, he was wrong. The last thing he saw was Haley simply looking at him with a disappointed expression, as if she expected more, before she too walked away. And for some reason _that_ hit Nathan harder than all the harsh words in the world.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! I can't begin to apologize over how late this has been updated. Honestly, the problem is my sister has this ICT GCSE coursework to do, and she's been hogging the computer this whole time. I only just managed to salvage some time on the computer for a couple of hours to update this story. Fear not, I haven't forgotten about it. I actually have the next couple of chapters outlined, but as I am really writing this as I go along, I apologise beforehand for infrequent updates. I will try to make them weekly, but please keep reading and review!**

**P.S. To make up for the long wait, this chapter is longer than all the previous ones.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"_If you wanna be somebody else… if you're tired of fighting battles with yourself… if you wanna be somebody else…change your mind"__**– Sister Hazel**_

_BEEP! BEEP!_

Nathan's eyes immediately shot open and he winced, not used to the sudden daylight taking over his vision.

_BEEP! BEEP!_

_Oh crap, not right now…_

The last thing he wanted right now was to get up, he already knew today was not going to be a good day at all.

_BEEP! BEEP!_

Facing his friends, if he still have any, was gonna be a hard feat in itself.

_BEEP! BEEP!_

Not to mention the party later…_arghhh…do I have to get up? Can't the world just let me sleep in misery?!_

_BEEP! BE-_

He finally hit the shrill alarm clock, deciding he didn't want a migraine on top of everything else.

Rubbing his eyes, he turned onto his back and as he did his arm brushed onto something. Looking to his right he almost groaned aloud at what he saw. None other than his two-faced bitch of a girlfriend, lying on her side, her red hair taking over his pillow space, and generally her body invading his bed. _Fuck._

What the hell was he thinking last night? _Clearly I wasn't. _As he remembered what went down, he groaned feeling a sense of dread fall over him. Turning over he saw that Rachel seemed dead to the world, so he took the chance to get ready and get the hell away from her.

He looked over at his brother's side of the room, the made up bed giving away that he hadn't come back last night. Thinking of his brother the guilt began to brew in his mind.

Grabbing some clothes he made his way into the ensuite bathroom. _God, what the hell was she thinking? _He remembered her exact words yesterday and he was furious as to why she seemed content with always trying to destroy the good parts of his life. He had no idea where this whacked up idea of just naturally being bitchy to any other girl on sight of hers came from, but it was getting out of hand.

Stripping down he turned the showerhead on and stepped inside the stall. As the droplets of water cascaded onto him from above, he sighed leaning back against the cool tiles. Despite what had happened he couldn't deny that he was completely useless in the situation. He felt the water trickle down the length of his hard, defined body. How he wished it could just wash away all his faults and mistakes too.

_Forget Rachel, what the hell is wrong with me?_ Rachel had made it clear that she didn't care and never would about his friends, or what they thought of her. Nathan however, had severely let them down last night. He didn't even know if he still had the right to call them friends.

He grabbed the loofah nearby and started rubbing away at his taut muscles. His movements were a little rough, as though they were being fuelled by his anger. Anger at how badly things got messed up yesterday. Anger at letting Rachel say all those things last night, not to mention previous encounters. Anger at himself for becoming such a pussy – letting his girlfriend insult not only two of his friends, but his brother as well!

And most of all…anger at how he handled her after they left Starbucks. He'd angrily stomped all the way back to his place with her on his heels. Once he got inside, she immediately set on trying to distract him from the inevitable lecture coming her way. So what did she do? Of course…she tried to seduce him. Claiming not to be in the mood, he'd backed away and let rip to her about the way she'd just treated his friends, and Lucas! Rachel deemed that they were simply being too touchy. Then they'd argued back and forth until Rachel said something that he didn't really have an answer for...

"_Tell me Nathan, why now? You've never cared before, no matter what I say, how bad it is, or who I say it too. You've never given a damn, so what the hell is your problem now?"_

Her words echoed through his head as he pulled it back to let the droplets hit him right in the face. Despite the inner turmoil he was going through he couldn't deny the shower was extremely relaxing. He'd always had a thing for water; he loved swimming as a boy, and would even go for walks in the rain at times.

Turning the showerhead off he towelled himself dry before putting on a pair of basketball shorts, and a hoodie. Drying his hair he walked back into the bedroom, only to be met with the same sight he woke up to.

He could honestly say he was anything but proud of himself at this moment. After not having anything to say to Rachel's comment he'd sat there stumped as she continued with her seduction attempt. Only this time she'd succeeded, as Nathan had decided at that time that he needed anything to get his mind off of what had happened earlier at Starbucks.

Not being able to look at the sight anymore, he threw down the towel and decided to leave. Closing the door of his dorm room behind him he realised that Rachel would probably be pissed to wake up alone. _Oh well, she'll just have to show herself out. I got other things to do._

He'd promised Brooke he'd help out with the party this morning, though he doubted she'd want him anywhere near her right now. _Still I have to try._ He needed to make things right, and this time he was going to speak up.

* * *

"Brooke…" Haley voiced cautiously, watching her roommate run around frantically.

"Yeah?" She replied without even looking up from what she was doing, which was currently fishing through her bag for something.

"Are you okay?" she ventured.

"Oh, yeah just dandy." She replied hurriedly moving to her vanity.

"Uh huh." Haley deadpanned seeing her now fling the contents of her desk all over the place.

"What are you doing?" She ducked to avoid an oncoming hairbrush.

"Party." She replied simply not caring to elaborate.

"Brooke," Haley tried again stepping over the assorted clothes now on the floor. "Brooke…" She walked up to the girl who was now wrestling with her desk draw, a second away from pulling it out of its hinges. "BROOKE!"

The brunette jumped a mile, not expecting the loud shriek, and certainly not from right behind her.

"Jesus Haley! What the hell?" She clung to her chest while letting go of the draw.

Not uttering a word, she grabbed her usually perky roommate's hand and led her over to her side of the room, since it wasn't a complete mess. Situating themselves on her bed, Haley turned to the brunette.

"Look, you've not been acting yourself this morning, or last night even." Haley noticed her stiffen, probably remembering what had gone down the previous evening.

Seeing she had nothing to say, Haley chose her next words cautiously. "I know that we haven't known each other very long, and because of that I don't really know any of your guy's history. I don't know what yesterday was about…though I could kinda guess…" Haley trailed off seeing Brooke about to say something she quickly added, "…that's not the point though. I'm not asking you tell me what's happened in the past, or what yesterday was about. I just wanted to tell you that if you do want to talk…about _anything _then I'm here…" She ended her little speech trying to gage Brooke's reaction.

Turning her head, Brooke looked her roommate and new friend straight in the eye. She could see nothing but sincerity and warmth in her gaze. She could tell from one look that Haley really meant what she said. She wasn't being nosy or trying to but into her business. She wasn't offering advice or being pushy. She was simply lending her an ear to rant to, whenever she needed one.

"You're definitely one in a million Haley, you know that?" Brooke responded, and despite not knowing the girl long, Haley could tell that the simple use of her actual name meant Brooke was completely serious.

"Thanks, but you flatter me." Haley said light-heartedly causing Brooke to chuckle. "I just… I know what its like to have been hurt badly by people you thought you could trust. And then your pride and battered heart don't let you talk to anyone else about it." She turned to Brooke who was looking at her curiously now. "I bottled my feelings up for a long time Brooke, and trust me when I say it wasn't the best thing to do. You can't keep these kinds of thoughts and emotions inside you or they'll slowly eat away at you. You need to confront them, and the best way is usually by opening up to somebody." At seeing the serious expression on Haley's face, Brooke realised that she also had ghosts in her past. "And it doesn't have to be somebody you know, sometimes it's easier to share your thoughts with a complete stranger, but even so…as my grandma always says 'Better out than in'." Haley cocked her head to the side slightly, "Although she may have been talking to my aunt about my cousin's burping problem."

Hearing a raspy but welcomed giggle beside her, Haley felt satisfied. _Mission: Cheer up Brookie_ _made successful_!

"Thanks Haley," Brooke said truly grateful. "To be honest I don't think I'm ready yet to bring back those memories. I guess…I just need some time…"

She looked back at Haley who immediately felt for the poor girl currently searching for approval as if to ask – _is that okay?_

"Hey, there's never a time limit on these kinds of things." Haley assured her, "Everyone heals at their own pace, there's no rush."

Brooke smiled and took Haley completely off guard by suddenly moving forward and pulling the petite blonde into a hug. She couldn't help but think that Haley was brought into her life at this exact time for a reason. She wasn't sure how yet, but she felt as though the pretty blonde would have a big impact on all their lives. And even more so, she felt that the impact would be anything but awful.

Pulling out of it her demeanour switched completely, "Speaking of rush, we totally need to hurry if we're gonna get this party done for tonight."

"Right," Haley got up following Brooke while a little bemused at how the girl could totally switch moods in the space of a nano-second. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, we need to get all these boxes of decorations down to the beach where I think the boys are already setting up the DJ booth and tables. Of course, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was supposed to come take them down, but he's probably busy getting his freak on with his evil psycho witch."

Sensing her mood turning sour Haley offered to take the boxes down herself. Brooke gladly agreed at once piling three of them into Haley's arms before she could utter another word. _Oh god, how the heck am I supposed to get these all the way down to the beach?_ Haley watched as the topmost box began to teeter dangerously.

Seeing Brooke begin to pack other things she decided she may as well try. Slowly she closed the door behind her, drowning out the muttered sounds of Brooke plotting the death of Nathan and the 'red-headed beast'. _Note to self; never do anything to piss Brooke off._

Haley then began to manoeuvre herself round to begin the agonising chore of carrying the heavy load to their new location. _God, what are these boxes made of? Metal?!_

Too preoccupied with balancing them in her arms she didn't hear the footsteps approaching her way. Feeling off balance, she did the inevitable and stumbled forwards.

_Oh crap crap crap!_ She watched in slow motion as the box on top lurched forwards sliding the second one along with it. Closing her eyes she waited for the oncoming crashing sound of the boxes hitting the ground.

Instead she heard…nothing?_ Huh?_

Hearing a deep voice muttering, "Whoa there!" She opened her eyes, startled to see… "Nathan?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out." He smirked looking down at her even from above the three boxes she was holding. _Man he is TALL!_

"And where do you think you're going with all this?" He commented amused at seeing her in such a predicament. She noticed his hands holding onto the two boxes from the other side, having caught them just before they fell to the ground. _Must be those basketball reflexes, they do come in real handy when you're a klutz. _

"Er…well I'm supposed to be taking them down to the beach, but…as you can see I didn't really get that far." She answered a little uncomfortably. She wasn't sure how to act around him. Was she supposed to be normal and nice? Or simply civil? Or was she supposed to curse him till his dying day for hurting her friend – _his own_ friends.

"What? That's like a half hour trek from here! There's no way you'll be able to make it there with all this." He gestured to her trying to carry packages that together towered up over her face.

Before she could state the words 'I'll manage' he'd swooped in and lifted the top two boxes off, transferring them into his own arms easily.

"There, you sure you can handle that one package by yourself James?" He teased as Haley adjusted the much easier weight in her arms.

"I think I'll manage Scott." She replied feeling the corners of her mouth tug. She couldn't explain it but for some reason being in Nathan's presence always seemed to make her feel more…well…_playful_.

_Great, so much for channelling the wrath of Davis on him_. But she couldn't exactly be mean to him, not when he'd done nothing wrong to her personally. And certainly not after he just offered to help her out so sweetly.

Of course she couldn't. And it had nothing to do with the fact that one look at his gorgeous baby blues, and all thoughts of being remotely mad at him flew out the window. _God, why is he so effortlessly hot every time I see him?_

As they began their 'long trek' as he'd put it, an uncomfortable silence fell over the two. _Aaaaah geeze…_if there was one thing Haley James hated it was uncomfortable silences.

Surprisingly though before she could break it, Nathan stepped in first.

"So…how are Brooke and Peyton?"

His question seemingly caught her off guard. "They're okay...extremely pissed to the point where they wanna chop your balls off…but okay."

Nathan chuckled at that. He could tell Haley's comment was said more to cheer him up than anything else, and he was grateful for that. _At least she doesn't hate me_.

"What about you?" She questioned once Nathan fell silent.

"Huh?"

"How are you after last night?"

His surprise at her question was all over his face. _I was the one who royally screwed up – why does she even care how I'm feeling?_

"What?" Haley noticed his baffled expression.

"Nothing, I just…I'm surprised you asked; or care. I figured you'd be mad like everyone else, or that Brooke had poisoned you against me by now." He shrugged.

"Well I won't say she didn't try." Haley remembered Brooke's death plotting and claimed graciously that Haley could be her sidekick in 'Operation: Kill Carrot Stick'. Haley on the other hand was simply surprised at how many evil nicknames Brooke could create for Rachel.

"But despite what Brooke and Peyton say, I know you feel bad about what happened."

"How?"

"Well the first thing you asked me was how they were, so obviously you care." She said simply looking over at him as he held a guilty expression on his face. "And there's the fact that you haven't got that cocky smirk on your face."

He chuckled at that, "You think you got me all figured out James."

He looked over at her and she smiled back. As they continued walking in content silence, Nathan who'd obviously been pondering something let out a sigh.

"Brooke's right." Haley gave him a questioning look. "I've been a crap friend. I shouldn't have let Rachel come out with all that bullshit the other day."

"You're right…you were a jerk." Nathan's head shot in her direction surprised by her bluntness. "Look, I don't know what this whole Brooke/Lucas/Peyton triangle is-"

"You pretty much just said it." Nathan cut in.

"But I do know that whatever was said did hurt them really badly." Nathan looked ashamed of himself. Haley remembered how Peyton was when she dropped her off last night, and of course the way Brooke had been this morning. "And you just let Rachel insult them to their faces, not doing anything to stop it."

Nathan felt frustrated hearing this, especially since he knew she was right.

"I know that Haley but its not like anyone else said anything." _Oh great, a lame way to defend yourself Scott._

"The point is Nathan; they're _your_ friends and brother. And Rachel is _your_ girlfriend. No one else should have to try and control her, the fact is the way she acts around your friends reflects on you. And last night you let her get away with completely putting them down and you didn't do a damn thing about it. It's you're right to defend them but-"

Nathan stopped abruptly and turned to her. "Don't you think I know that?!" Haley was thrown by the sudden anger in his voice as he interrupted, "I already feel like shit, and I don't need you of all people grilling me about it!"

_Why are men so damn defensive?_ Haley rolled her eyes which she figured must have annoyed Nathan more but carried on. "If you would have let me finish Nathan. I was going to say… but I understand that it must also be pretty hard for you. Being constantly caught in between your best friends and your girlfriend…" _Why is it so hard to say that word?_ "…though it doesn't excuse what you did, it can't be easy to try and balance the two – especially when they hate each other."

As she finished Nathan knew she was right but also felt bad. Again.

"Hey, sorry I didn't mean…"

"It's okay." Haley finished for him and in return got another sweet smile. _Seriously this guy really should smile more, preferably my way_.

As they continued walking Nathan thought about his situation, but he wasn't sure how to fix it.

"So what am I supposed to do now?" Haley noticed he looked so cute with a 'lost-puppy' expression on his face.

Haley had some idea of what he had to do but wasn't sure how to broach the topic. _Maybe I should just ask him about it_.

This time Nathan watched Haley stop and turn towards him, obviously mulling something over. As she did he noticed the way she bit her lip as she was concentrating, and couldn't help but think that was totally adorable.

_Okay, maybe adorable is the wrong word_. He thought as he saw the way her teeth held onto her plump glossy lip in a way that just made him stop and stare. Seeing her do it, he wondered what it would be like to take her lip between his own teeth… to gently trace the outlines of her lips…sucking and caressing on them… tasting the flavour of her lip-gloss. What flavour would it be? _Strawberries,_ he thought, _she looks like a strawberry kind of girl_.

"Nathan," She interrupted his thoughts which had conjured images of his lips ravishing hers…their tongues battling furiously…hearing her moan-

"Nathan?" she said a little louder seeing him space out.

"Huh? What?" He snapped out of it, seeing the pretty blonde looking at him confused. _What just happened?_ Nathan Scott did not daydream about girls…no he was supposed to be the one _they_ daydreamed of.

_Dammit, what does she do to me? _One minute they're having a perfectly good conversation, next he's envisioning shoving his tongue down her throat. Unfortunately he felt exactly what she did to him, or well…another part of his anatomy did.

"Could I ask you a question? And you don't have to answer or anything, I was just…it might help you figure some things out and…" As she rambled Nathan took the opportunity to lower the two boxes in his grasp discretely to cover the sudden bulge that had appeared in his trousers. _What the fuck? I'm getting a friggin hard on from an imaginary kiss?!_

"Haley," he jumped in as she was still going. "Whatever it is, just ask."

"Why are you with Rachel? I mean, does she make you happy?" Haley felt a little out of sorts asking him such a delicate question. _Geeze Haley, you've known him for a few days, had one actual conversation, and next thing, you're asking him deep personal questions about his love life?!_ _Just great…_

Nathan was a little thrown by her question, it was straight to the point and boy did it have a loaded answer!

"You know what, forget about it." Haley announced suddenly after a few minutes of silence. Figuring she probably offended him she decided to drop it. "Let's just get these down to the beach."

She was about to keep moving when Nathan decided to speak.

"No."

"Huh?"

"No, I'm not happy with Rachel." He looked at her confused expression as he said so. He was surprised that it had taken him so long to say it out loud.

"Then why…?"

"Why am I still with her?" Haley nodded.

Nathan sighed. "I guess in the beginning it was good…but after a while it kind of just dried out. I got more pissy, she got more bitchy, we'd fight more. We completely drifted apart, and we weren't exactly…er…being well _faithful_ either."

Haley raised her eyebrows but didn't comment, which Nathan was grateful for. He couldn't quite believe he just told a girl he was attracted to that he was quite possibly a man-whore. _Freakin' hell, why can't I think before I speak?! _

"Well then what exactly are you holding onto? Neither of you are very happy together, not to mention your friends aren't gonna keep putting up with her crap any longer." Haley reasoned, ever curious to hear his answer.

Nathan shrugged his shoulders as they continued walking. "Mostly just living up to people's expectations. The basketball captain and the cheerleader, most people dig that. Plus it's kind of expected of my reputation to be with a girl all the time."

"Well that's crap." Haley stated adamantly startling Nathan. "You're not supposed to be living your life according to other people's expectations. You make your own reputation, not let others do it for you." Nathan smiled slightly as Haley ranted, liking the way that she was so passionate about certain things.

"And what else?" She asked unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Nathan. You expect me to believe that the only thing holding your relationship with her is sex and what other people think of you?" Haley looked at him pointedly. Nathan had half a mind to just tell her 'yeah sure' after all that could be true. But he found that one look in those chocolate brown eyes, and all attempts of lying flew out the window.

"My dad." He answered almost effortlessly.

"Your dad? What's he got to do with it?" Haley asked baffled.

"To put it simply, we don't have the best relationship." A frown suddenly adorning his features. "In fact I try my best to piss him off as much as I can, it's a long story." He added seeing Haley gaze at him curiously. "But yeah…so he believes that my entire life should just revolve around basketball and nothing else. Basketball should be my number one priority - the beginning, middle and end of my world."

"That's harsh." Haley commented, she had such great parents herself it was hard to imagine sometimes that other people weren't as lucky.

"Tell me about it. Anyway, one of his rules is that I should refrain from having any sort of steady girlfriend. I can have fun but none of that 'falling in love crap' as he put it so eloquently."

"Ahh, I see." Haley pieced it together.

"Exactly. He'd pissed me off really badly after some game a few months back. So while I was talking to him Rachel came over and suggested meeting later, and next thing I know I was introducing her as my girlfriend."

"I'm guessing he didn't take it well."

"Nah, not at all. He comes to every game and practically shoots death rays at her the whole time. But I carried on with it, mainly to just get at him…though I think that all this isn't really worth that anymore."

"I think you're probably right." Haley agreed. "Unless you can get her to change some of her ways, (Nathan chuckled at that) it won't be much longer that your friends are going to get tired of her...and of you letting her walk all over you."

He knew he should have been offended at that point. He should've asked Haley where she got off saying something like that. _But what's the point?_ It was all too true to deny.

They arrived at a pair of double doors that led outside, and made their way out reaching the area of the beach in relative silence. At that point both saw Skills and Jake headed their way.

"Hey guys," Haley said and they greeted them in return. They offered to take the boxes back to the location and Haley gratefully gave hers over.

Having been left to themselves, Haley shuffled a little awkwardly, and Nathan put his hands in his pockets.

"I should probably go apologise to Brooke and Peyton."

"That would be a good start," Haley smiled at him and just like that he felt a sharp jab in his gut. _Not again!_

Nathan was about to turn around and walk back when Haley stopped him. "Nathan I know I haven't known you that long, and I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I will say this," Nathan listened attentively. "Don't do things for other people, live for yourself. You shouldn't have to put yourself through anything you don't want to, especially if it doesn't make you happy. You deserve more than that."

It was at that moment that Haley witnessed something that not many people could say they had. She watched Nathan Scott's face widen with a full, blown-out, gorgeous smile. And she knew she'd said the right thing.

"You sound pretty sure about that."

"Trust me; I know these kinds of things." She replied.

Looking over to see the rest of the guys still working, Nathan decided he had something he had to go get done.

"Hey, I'm gonna head back. There's something I've got to do." Nathan told the petite blonde before him. "I know the girls are going to be mad but I don't think this can wait."

"Alright I'll tell them. I've got to go find Peyton anyway." Haley said before turning and walking back to the doors. She'd only taken a few steps before she heard her name being called.

Turning she found Nathan still in the same spot just looking at her.

"Yeah?"

Nathan had called after her wanting to say something, but the second she turned around her was momentarily stumped. She looked so pretty just standing at the top of the beach in the daylight, her blonde hair cascading down her face in their natural waves. _What was I going to say?_

"Nathan?"

He snapped out of it. "Just wanted to say…thanks."

She nodded smiling "Anytime". And with that she turned to go back in not noticing that his eyes never left her till she did.

* * *

"You're what?!" Rachel practically screamed and Nathan winced. _Damn, that can't be good for my hearing._

"I cannot believe this!" Rachel shrieked again. At first when Nathan showed up at her door she figured he was going to make up for not being there in the morning. But before she had managed to get a word out, he'd blurted out that he wanted to break up with her.

Nathan was confused, he was expecting a reaction, because it was Rachel – there was going to be one. But he didn't really expect her to be this broken up about it. _She looks furious!_ Its not like it was a life changing decision they were making, it was just a break-up. _And apparently she has a problem with that?_

"Why would you want to do this?" Rachel could not fathom what was wrong with Nathan, he'd never gone this far before.

_Is she for real? _"Rachel, you can't be serious? Even you must have noticed that we're crap together."

"Well you certainly didn't think so last night" She replied haughtily.

"This isn't about the sex!" Nathan ran a hand through his hair frustrated, he could already tell this was going to take a while.

"Well what else is there?" She snit back.

Nathan almost laughed at that. "That's exactly my point." He moved closer to her with a serious expression on his face. "Besides the on-off sex and the image we're giving other people, there's nothing between us at all. We can't seriously be calling this a relationship. The only reason you ever came after me was because I was _the_ Nathan Scott, basketball team captain, ultimate party guy, and big man on campus."

"Well someone's a little high on themselves…" Rachel sniffed.

"Why deny it? It's true – I had status in this place, I was popular and you wanted that." Nathan backed up a bit as she continued glaring at him, but he knew she couldn't deny the truth either. "I didn't care at the time because all I wanted was the sex…and you happened to be pretty good in bed. But other than that, I only really kept you around to piss my dad off. And don't pretend you didn't know, you would play along every time at every game he came to."

He saw her facial expression change, she looked downright offended and Nathan figured maybe he should have been a little more sensitive.

"_Pretty _good?!" She all but yelled. "I'm more than just _pretty_ good in bed, and I think you of all people know that."

_Is she fucking serious?_ Nathan thought she would have been offended with him stating that she was only after him for status. Or he thought she may not have liked that he implied she played games with their relationship to shove it to his dad. But he should have known…Rachel was just a shallow whore and only cared about one thing. _Typical_.

At that point he couldn't believe he hadn't done this earlier.

"Besides what's wrong with that?" Rachel continued and Nathan figured he'd better tune in to what she was saying before she decided to scream again. "We got a good thing going. Why ruin it?"

"Because I'm sick of it!" He shouted, catching himself and her off guard. _Guess I feel more strongly about this than I realized._ "I'm sick of putting on a show for my dad and the rest of the school! I'm sick of the pointless and recently kinda boring sex. (Rachel fumed at this point). I'm sick of having you insult all the important people in my life. And I'm sick of who I've become ever since I started this thing with you." He didn't want to call it a relationship, because that wasn't what it was.

"I've become someone who just stands aside while you put down all my friends and family. I've become someone who regularly cheats on his girlfriend without a second thought. I use people to get what I want...I've been using _you_ to get at my dad…and I just don't want to do it all anymore. I'm just sick of what this is making me." He finished his tirade to face a shocked looking red-head.

"You cheat on me?" She seemed appalled but Nathan knew better.

Rolling his eyes at how she seemed to ignore everything else he just said he replied, "Don't act all broken up about it Rachel. I know you do it too."

"I do not cheat!" She gasped indignantly.

"Who are you trying to kid?" _She wouldn't make the best actress_, he figured seeing how she looked guilty as hell. "I could tell you who you've done, when, where, and whether I was doing someone else at the same time. So let's just not pretend we're saints here." He said to a dumbfounded Rachel. Sighing he tried a different tactic. "Don't you ever just want more from someone?"

He saw a brief look of vulnerability flash through her eyes. But it was there so fleetingly, he would later question whether he ever saw it.

"Look, it's obvious that you've been spending too much time with Lucas lately." Rachel commented cattily.

_Actually Lucas wasn't the one to set me straight._ He thought, though seeing the confused and curious expression on Rachel's face, he realised he may have blurted that out loud.

"Who was it then?" Rachel asked.

_Shit…why is it my brain can't connect with my mouth!_ "No one." He could tell she didn't believe him. "That doesn't matter," he conceded, "All I know is that this is done." He indicated between them.

Rachel snorted at that. She suddenly changed her tune and he noticed she sauntered over to him, making sure to sway her hips sexily.

Reaching him, she drew her hand up his chest slowly…seductively. "You know what?" Nathan looked at her pointedly wondering what game she was playing now. "You're just having some weird meltdown or something." She looked at him smirking, "How about I make you feel better?"

She leaned in slowly glad to finally be getting this stupid idea out of his head. Then something unexpected happened – at least for Rachel it was surprising. He grabbed her by her hips and…pushed her away?!

"Put some freakin' ice on it!" She was startled, both by his anger and the fact that he'd just tried to push her as far away from him as possible.

Rachel was shocked, even when he was extremely pissed at her, he'd never rejected her. She felt a giant blow to her pride, and immediately sought to place the blame elsewhere. Not wanting to believe she herself was the problem.

Her eyes narrowed, and her eyebrows raised and Nathan knew she was instantly going into 'attack' mode. _She never does handle rejection well._

"Who was it?"

"Huh?" Nathan was baffled as to what she was going on about.

"Who was it?" She repeated. "This person who got to you. Who made you believe that you had to come and do _this_?"

Hearing her words Nathan automatically began thinking of Haley and her words to him.

_"You shouldn't have to put yourself through anything you don't want to, especially if it doesn't make you happy. You deserve more than that._"

That Haley James definitely surprised him. And he didn't know what surprised him more. The fact that he couldn't get the picture of her standing at the top of the beach out of his head. Or that he didn't _want_ to.

"Like I said, that doesn't matter. I've just realised some things…I want something different. An _actual _relationship. And that's not going to happen with you."

He felt kind of harsh saying that but he needed her to get it – that this wasn't just a last-minute type of decision or that he was likely to change his mind tomorrow. No. This was for real.

Rachel laughed and Nathan wondered if she was going crazy. She'd already switched moods about twenty times since they started this conversation. _And I thought Brooke was bad. _

"I don't know what's worse." Rachel stated smiling mockingly. "The fact that _you_, Nathan Scott…king of hook-ups and random screwing…playboy extraordinaire…wants to actually have a _relationship_ with someone. Or that you actually believe you're going to find a girl willing to do it with you."

Nathan confused and offended asked what she meant by that.

"Face it Nate." Rachel scoffed, "all THA girls are the same. They're all sluts that want a piece of _the_ Nathan Scott, falling at your feet practically begging to get laid. And you know that... it's another reason you _stuck _with me."

Nathan frowned at the point she was making, "You knew that if we broke up you'd just have a bunch of girls after you that are just like me." She added as an afterthought, "Though they wouldn't be as hot…or satisfying."

The look on her face told him she thought she'd won. That she'd come up with a reason why he should just stay with her. But a certain pretty blonde's face popped up in his mind again, and he realised what she said was not completely true.

He didn't know Haley that well yet. But he could already tell she was different from any other girl he'd met. She was certainly different from all the other girls in THA. _There's just_ _something about her_…

Rachel observed his face watching a smile creep onto it slowly.

"Unless…" She snapped him out of his trance. "You've already found one." A sudden fury took over her features and Nathan almost gulped. "Is that what this is about?!"

_What?_

"You've found some new hussy to screw around with?!" Rachel shrieked aghast.

"What? No! I just think our so-called 'relationship' is bullshit and I want out!" Nathan yelled back, anger radiating from his demeanour. He'd had enough – couldn't she at least break up with some dignity?!

Apparently Rachel wasn't listening; she was too busy ticking off the many candidates she believed Nathan to be thinking about.

"Well the only girls that _are_ different are the nerds and geeks…but it's not like you'd hook up with them! It can't be any of those freshman sluts…even you're not that low. Maybe it's that fat witch Glenda!" She pondered it for a second. "Nah, you don't do super-size… (Nathan sputtering at this point at her cruel words)…and there's no way in hell its one of the cheerleaders since you've probably banged them all anyway. ("Hey!" Nathan shot out indignantly – that for one was not true). Well then there's really only Brooke and Peyton…and I _know_ you wouldn't go there…so who the hell does that leave?!...I mean yeah, there's that new girl – Holly? Or something like that…but it's not like you'd be interested in her!" She laughed at that point, but stopped when she saw the awkward look on Nathan's face and how he averted his eyes from her gaze.

Realisation dawned on her and Nathan blocked his ears expectantly.

"Holly?!" She screeched.

He shouldn't of but he couldn't help it. "Her name's Haley," He bit out.

"Oh, so you're admitting it!"

"Admitting what?!"

"I see how this is." Rachel crossed her arms and gave him a heated look. "She's the one who talked you out of this relationship isn't she. That manipulative bitch!"

"Ok, you know what, that's it." Nathan put his foot down; he didn't know how much more of this he could take without ripping his ears off, or throttling the girl before him. "This has got nothing to do with Haley and _everything_ to do with you. You're a crazy slut, crazy being the main theme right now. And honestly I just can't deal with being in a 10 foot distance of you anymore. I tried to have a civilised talk with you, so we could at least break it off on good terms, but you're just…INSANE!"

He walked towards the door, grabbing the handle and turning round. "We're over. Deal with it." And with that he opened the door, and walked as far away from her as possible, without looking back once.

As he made his way back to his dorm room he ran into Lucas who was on his way out.

"Hey bro, I wondered where you'd got to. Are you planning on bringing your lazy ass down to the beach and helping out? Brooke is not happy right now." Lucas rambled slightly and Nathan noticed he was being perfectly cordial to him, which was far from what he deserved.

_They probably didn't tell him what happened last night._

"Luke..." Nathan's tone stopped his brother from going any further.

"What?"

Nathan let out a deep breath. "I owe you an apology."

Lucas's face turned serious. "If this is about last night, don't worry about it."

Nathan did a double take. "You know?"

He nodded. "I came back to the room this morning to find Rachel and Peyton about to go at it outside our room. When Rachel left, after providing some really nice comments, Peyton filled me in on what happened before going off in a huff."

"So how come your not mad?" Nathan asked his big brother as they started walking back down to the beach.

"I was." He replied. "But I had the whole night to think about it while I bunked at Skills and Jake's." He had seen Nathan and Rachel making their way back to their dorm the other night, and decided to stay over at their friends, not wanting to interrupt whatever they may have been doing. "And I figured that I'd forgive you if you told me that you'd done something to prevent this from happening again."

He eyed his younger brother warily. "Have you?"

Nathan looked Lucas in the eye and he smiled. "Actually..."

And they walked off as he told his older brother something that would have him clapping his back and congratulating him later.

* * *

**I know some of you are waiting for the party scene, and that will be the next chapter. I just wanted to get some things out the way before then!**

**Thanks for reading! xxx**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews people! Have to say I am loving all the Naley on the show right now. Only took them 13 episodes to get it right! Anwyas here's the party chapter. Just to clarify, this is going to be a NALEY story, but other couples will feature quite a bit. **

**storyofmylifee - thanks for the review! I was surprised with your review, cos I'm actually ****reading your story 'Your Guardian Angel' right now, and I have to say its amazing! **

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." **– Oprah Winfrey**_

"Where is P. Sawyer?" Brooke paced up and down the length of the room. "She was supposed to have gotten ready with us!" Brooke claimed, stopping for a moment to sort out her hair in the full length-mirror in the centre of their room.

She was wearing a pretty, beaded yellow kaftan which reached mid-thigh, with hidden short shorts underneath.

"She's on her way," Haley said as she got off the phone. "Says she's got some big news."

That got Brooke's attention. Looking up she frowned, "Good or bad?"

Haley got up now standing beside Brooke in front of the mirror. "Good I'm guessing. She sounded kinda chirpy." As she applied her lip-gloss Brooke ran the many possible scenarios going through her head.

"Oooh, maybe Rachel fell into a ditch somewhere and got eaten by wild skank-eating ditch monsters! That poor, poor red-headed beast…" Brooke muttered smiling.

"Tigger." Haley reprimanded.

"Too much?"

"A little."

Brooke just shrugged before her face lit up. "By the way – have I told you how much I love my new nickname?" Haley laughed.

They'd been working with Peyton, Jake, Skills and Lucas at the beach at one point in the morning and Brooke had been acting crazy hyper. Haley had claimed that Brooke was always so full of energy, she reminded her of the bouncy Tigger character from Winnie the Pooh. Everyone had laughed especially when Brooke started shrieking she loved it!

"Hey girls." Peyton strolled in practically bouncing herself.

"P. Sawyer so nice of you to grace us with your presence, _finally_." Seeing her completely ready in her outfit she'd bought at the mall she added, "Though since you look great, I'll forget to be mad at you this once."

"Why thank you oh gracious one." Peyton drawled sarcastically while Brooke grinned back. "H. James you're lookin' pretty hot for your party!"

"It's not _my_ party." Haley rolled her eyes. "But I do look fabulous don't I?" She pretended to check herself out in the mirror as the girls chuckled. She was wearing a layered pink strapped top that reached just below her chest, leaving her midriff bare. And with that she paired a cute turquoise skirt that just reached her knees. She hadn't been sure about leaving her stomach on show but Brooke convinced her she had 'abs of steel' (whatever they were) which should be accentuated.

"Trust me New Girl, you're gonna have heads turning and tongues wagging tonight." Brooke claimed confidently.

"And I can name one more newly single guy that'd fall under that list." Peyton smiled coyly.

"Who?" Brooke and Haley asked confused.

Seeing Peyton's smirk and knowing look Brooke gasped. "You know something!" And just like that she attacked the girl, "Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, you are hereby under the strict law of girl gossip to tell us immediately what you know!" She stomped her foot at the end reminiscent to that of a young child throwing a tantrum.

"Well…" Peyton glanced at Haley again whose baffled expression only got worse. _What do I have to do with anything?_

"I was on my way to your room so we could go down to the beach together, when I bumped into Jake going the other way. We chatted for a bit and he told me something _very_ interesting…" Again she looked pointedly at Haley causing Brooke to turn and demand the smaller blonde let her in on what happened.

"I honestly don't know" Haley answered clueless.

"PEYTON! You tell me right now! Or so help me God I'-"

"Nathan and Rachel broke up."

Brooke's face immediately turned from irritated to ecstatic. Haley took a moment to consider whether she actually was bipolar before the news hit her. _Whoa…so that's what he was off to do…_ She thought thinking of how Nathan had hurried off that morning claiming he had something important to get done.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Brooke screamed in pure joy. "Seriously?" She asked Peyton who nodded. "Omigod this is great! And so long overdue…I've been telling him to break it off with Ginger Nut since they started out. How did this happen?"

"We've all said our fair share. But…" Peyton paused as though for dramatic effect, "Apparently all it took was one talk from a certain Haley James and he broke it off straight away."

"Really?" Brooke gasped. "How? When? Where? What did you say? Where the hell was I!" She asked curious as ever.

Haley shrugged. "It was this morning on the beach and I didn't really say much. He was just so confused and I offered him some advice. I just told him to make a choice before he lost everything." She had thought she'd gotten through to Nathan; but she had no idea that he was off to break up with his girlfriend only seconds after their talk. _Man, I'm better than I thought. Hmmm…maybe I should consider giving motivational speeches… _

"But it could have been for a number of reasons; I doubt I had much to do with it." Haley downplayed her role. _On second thought, I don't want to be the go-to girl on how to break up relationships! _

"Then why did Nathan himself tell the guys that you were the one that helped finally put him in place." Peyton pointed out.

"He said that?" Haley's eyebrows shot up as Brooke nudged her slightly smirking. Somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a little Haley voice totally cheering her on.

"Yup." Peyton smiled at the girl's expression. _Clearly Haley James is more than people think._

"Well I don't care what you said." Brooke squealed before hugging Haley in thanks on one side, as Peyton joined on the other. "I love you New Girl! You've totally made my year!"

After jumping, squealing and hugging a bit more Brooke announced that it was time to go join the _real_ party.

"We're all gorgeous and single. We're gonna get down there, have fun and meet some hotties." She exclaimed in excitement, leaving no room for discussion.

"Alright Brookie, but I'm keeping it low-key. Last thing I want is a one-night stand before I've even started the school!" Haley stated.

"Whoa New Girl, pace yourself. I was only suggesting we get some numbers."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "Yeah right Brooke. I bet you have that draw stacked with condoms of all sizes, colours _and_ flavours."

"Ouch Sawyer." Brooke faked hurt at the statement. "No sex sure makes you a grouch."

As they continued to banter playfully Haley linked her arms with both and dragged them out the room. Suddenly the party was looking a lot better than it had a few days ago.

* * *

Her first reaction when she looked around was _wow_.

Haley James was officially at her first party at her new school. Not missing the irony that she was at her first party before her first lesson, she took in the sight around her. _Brooke Davis is one _hell_ of a party planner. _

Under a dark sky indicating the late hour the party had begun. The beach was alight with lights, decorations, music, and people. There was a DJ booth set up at the far end blasting out tracks for people who were grinding on the makeshift dance floor. Lights of all colours hanging around the booth, and all the tables littered about, as well as some nearby bushes.

"Brooke I have to say again, this looks amazing!" Haley looked around in awe as the brunette puffed proudly beside her.

"I know, I'm good." She looked around taking in her own work. "Now, let's start introducing you to people." With that she grabbed Haley's arm and Peyton's, who was still looking around and took them into the midst of the crowd.

"But you already did." Haley pointed out.

Brooke had literally dragged her around to meet all the 'need-to-know' peoples in the place. It didn't escape Haley's notice that that mainly included extremely hot members of the football, basketball, and even the swim team!

"Oh no, that…I was just showing you the hottie potential of THA. Besides what are you complaining about, you've already got like a million numbers."

That part was true, and caused Haley to blush slightly. She was confident in her looks, and she knew she was quite pretty. But the way some of the guys were looking at her…well needless to say she currently had…wait for it…13 numbers (!) stashed away in her bra. _Stupid skirt with no pockets!_

"Brooke?" They turned to see a smiley looking blonde practically skip over in her excitement.

"Hey Bevin." Brooke smiled as Peyton also greeted her.

Greeting them both she congratulated Brooke on another fabulous party before noticing Haley standing there.

"Oh Bevin, this is Haley James my new roommate. Haley this is Bevin Mirsky, she's on the squad with us."

"Hi." Haley smiled at the cheerful looking girl.

"Omigosh hi! You must be the new girl_ everyone's _talking about!" Bevin shrieked almost giddy. She then took Haley by complete surprise by drawing her into a hug. "It's sooooooo great to meet you! Brooke's told me sooooooo much about you." She slurred just slightly.

"Bevin are you drunk? Already?" Peyton asked holding back a smile at the girl's demeanour.

"I'm not drunk!" Bevin gasped, almost toppling over from the effect. Peyton caught her just in time.

"Okay…maybe I'm a weeee bit tipsy!" Bevin indicated how much exactly with her thumb and forefinger.

"Just a _wee_ bit ey?" Brooke smirked as Peyton helped her onto a nearby chair.

Bevin just giggled in reply, before hiccupping. Brooke and Peyton shook their heads at her before laughing.

"Omigod Bevin! I've been looking for you everywhere!" A slim, tall girl came over with jet black hair reaching down her back and dark brown eyes. "Oh thank god, you've got her Peyton, I thought some guy had picked her up and shoved her in the back of his trunk."

"Don't be so dramatic Anna…besides who the hell would drive to a party that's like a 2 minute walk from their dorm." Peyton reasoned.

"You'd be surprised; I think I saw some college guys earlier."

"Really?!" Brooke's eyes gleamed at the thought, immediately looking in the direction Anna had appeared from.

"Oh no… don't even think about it. I wanna sleep in my own room tonight so no hook ups for you." Haley piped up leaving Brooke with a pout.

"What if I'm quick?" Brooke asked.

"Ew Brooke!" She heard the Anna girl laugh at that.

"Hi," She offered her hand, "I don't think I've had the pleasure." She offered her a gorgeous smile as Haley greeted her too.

"Haley James, new girl and roommates with this nut." She nodded at Brooke who protested.

"Anna Tegaro, been-here-forever-girl and on the squad with said nut." She indicated Brooke who yelled a 'Hey!'

"So where you from?" Anna asked smiling her way again. Haley noticed something was a little odd about her smile. The way the girl was looking at her…something wasn't right.

"I came over from Oak Lake High."

"Oh, Oak Lake! I remember when we played you guys." _Everyone does apparently. _"Man there's a lot of hotties in that place."

Anna sighed almost dreamily before eyeing Haley again. "Glad to have one of them over on our side now."

Haley only just realizing what she said stood frozen. _Did she just say?...No…she wouldn- Omigod is she checking me out?! _Haley's eyes widened as she noticed Anna giving her the once over. _Why would she _do_ that?_ She then noticed Anna smile at her again. _Oh no._ Haley now knew why the smile felt odd. It wasn't a friendly, 'welcome to the place' kind of smile…no…it was a _flirtatious_ smile.

"Er…thanks?" Haley choked out wandering how the hell she was going to get out of this conversation. Anna was giving her a pretty intense look and it was making her feel uncomfortable.

_What is a person supposed to do in this type of situation? I swear I saw this on some soap drama before…damn, I think the credits are supposed to roll right about now…_

Before anything more could be said, Bevin suddenly burst into song beside them. _Oh thank god! Saved by the drunk blonde._

"I better get her up to the toilets and sort her out." Anna shook her head at the sight of her friend.

She helped Bevin up, holding her up by the arm as Bevin continued the sing "For he's a–hic-jolly good fell-hic-ow! For he's a–hic-jolly good fell-hic-ow! For he's a–hic-jolly good fell-hic-ooooooooooooowwwwwww hic!...er...what comes after that? Hic!"

"Oh and Haley," She looked over as Anna turned to her before dragging Bevin away, "Don't go _anywhere_." She winked and left.

Haley stood there shocked and was taken out of her stupor when she heard two voices burst into laughter behind her. Turning around she saw Peyton and Brooke almost rolling on the floor in laughter.

"Oh haha, very funny. Nice to see you two were having the time of your life while I was stuck in the most awkward situation ever."

"Omigod…the look on your face!" Brooke sniggered in-between laughs.

She shook her head as the girls continued to laugh, Brooke holding onto her stomach and Peyton actually sitting down from being out of breath.

"What's up with them?" A voice came from behind and Haley turned to see Lucas.

"Oh hey. Urgh…ignore them, they're just having a spastic moment." She explained smirking as she heard two protests from behind her.

"Okay," Lucas smiled before turning to shout behind him. "Hey guys, I found them!" Haley looked behind him to see all the other guys making their way over.

She saw how most of the crowd parted to let them through. Clearly they were social royalty in this school. She'd noticed the same looks when she went anywhere with Brooke or Peyton. People were constantly watching them, some friendly, some intimidated, some flirty and others totally kissing ass. She had come to realise that this group was the elite of THA…and she just happened to have been accepted into the gang.

_How did that happen?_

"Heya hot chicas!" Tim called over.

"We have names Dim." _Kinda ironic considering Brooke is the one that never calls anyone by their name._

"Yo Davis. How the hell did you manage to get lifeguards in this place?" Skills commented, as he and Nathan finally joined the group.

"Oh, I know some people." Brooke shrugged.

"More like you _did_ some people." Peyton added causing the group to laugh as Brooke whacked the girl.

"Anywho, James am I gonna get a dance out of you girl?" Skills smiled charmingly.

"You bet hot stuff." She winked at him and he grinned smugly at the other guys who just shook their heads.

Haley really liked Skills; he was a great guy and flirted with her at every chance he got. Everyone knew it was harmless though, Skills was always laying on charm for the girls.

He proved that point when he went off to check out some 'hunnies', Tim following behind eagerly.

The girls then joined in some animated conversation with Jake and Mouth while Lucas looked over at his brother who had yet to say a word. Instead he found him staring in the direction of the girls.

Correction. His look was far too intense to be staring. It was more like leering…_What the hell is Nathan doing?_

His fixed gaze hadn't lifted once from the girls chatting away and Lucas was wondering when he was going to snap out of it.

He suddenly heard Haley burst out laughing at something Jake said, and noticed Nathan's face light up with a huge smile. Lucas smirked at this. If his little brother really thought he wasn't crushing on the new girl, then he was fooling himself. _Nathan Scott does not smile for just anyone. Infact, Nathan Scott barely smiles period._

Meanwhile, the younger Scott brother himself was growing rather hot and bothered. The minute he'd joined the group his eyes were drawn to her. Skills had mentioned she looked fine on their way over, but Nathan disagreed.

She looked beyond fine. She was downright sexy.

"Hey Nate, when you decide to stop ogling Haley, you wanna get a drink?" He vaguely heard his brother's voice, and unfortunately shifted his attention from the stunning blonde.

"What Luke?"

"A drink?" Luke smirked knowingly at him. _I don't think I like that look._

"Sure."

Turns out that the girls had the same idea and were heading that way too. Nathan then noticed Haley turn around and instantly lock eyes with him.

He smiled pretending he hadn't been staring at her the whole time, when she suddenly started motioning something with her head.

Watching her he saw she was indicating to Brooke and Peyton who were walking just in front of her. Confused he looked at her as she then mouthed the word 'apologise'!

Realisation dawning on him, he frowned remembering he was so busy helping out in the morning and breaking up with Rachel he never actually got round to talking to Brooke or Peyton about the night before. _Great, they're gonna be even more annoyed!_

As they reached the keg, Lucas got drinks for everyone while Nathan moved over to the girls.

"Hey," he said a little sheepishly as both Brooke and Peyton turned to him.

"Hey," they replied indifferently.

"Look…I just wanted to tell you guys, that…I'm sorry. About the whole incident the other night,"

"You should hand them out in bulk if you say it that often." Brooke snit.

"I know I messed up…again." He saw Brooke raise her eyebrows.

"You're right about that Nate, you just let her insult us in front of everyone without so much as a word."

"I know Brook-"

"And to think that you had become such a little lapdog, letting her get away with murder." Brooke continued.

"That was wro-"

"You know you- ouch! What?" She turned to Haley who had nudged her with her elbow.

"Just shut up and let him speak." Haley said almost sternly, and Nathan was surprised to see Brooke immediately acquiesce to her request.

Shooting Haley a thankful look he carried on, "I understand that I really hurt you guys by not coming to your defense like I should have. I've been a crappy friend lately and I was putting the needs of myself over my friends, and that was really low. I know I made a mistake and I fixed it…hopefully we won't have Rachel ruining any of our lives anymore…and I just really want you to know that I _am _sorry, and it won't happen again."

He finished off and Haley had to say she was pleasantly surprised, she'd been expecting a simple 'I'm sorry'.

Apparently Brooke and Peyton had too as they shared a surprised look before both putting Nathan out of his misery and forgiving him. As they hugged, Haley sent him a soft smile when he looked over at her. She was proud of him. Owning up to your mistakes was easier said then done.

"Alrighty Missy James, what drink would you like?"

Before Haley had even finished answering Brooke ran off dragging a confused Peyton with her ("Why does this involve _two_ of us leaving?"), and as a result Haley was left in the company of a very hot looking Nathan Scott.

_Very_ hot looking.

All he was wearing was a blue polo and khaki pants but Haley had to admit Nathan Scott wore the look well. Infact she was pretty sure he could pull off any look sexily.

"So…"

"So…"

They both laughed at the slight awkwardness.

"How are you doing?" Haley asked, "You know…Peyton told me about the break up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, gotta say that was unexpected."

"Really?" Nathan asked, "You were the one that told me I had to make a decision."

"I know, I just didn't realise you'd made the decision _that_ second." Haley clarified.

"Well it wasn't really a hard one to make." Nathan shrugged before smirking at her. "Besides, you give a damn good speech James."

"Yeah I know." Haley agreed and they both stood there smiling at each other.

"Drinks!" Brooke interrupted the moment.

She, Peyton, Lucas, and Jake came over with drinks. They were with Mouth but according to Jake he just suddenly disappeared off somwhere.

Once the drinks had been passed round, Brooke proposed a toast.

"This is to Nathan," she smiled over at the guy who rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "For finally getting his head out his butt and ditching the She Demon."

"Thanks Brooke, I couldn't have put it better myself." Nathan said dryly.

"Your welcome." Brooke grinned, "And to Haley." She winked over at the girl, "New Girl, you rock! Welcome to the gang and many thanks for giving Nathan the kick up the backside he needed to ditch the Queen of Skank!"

"Well…it was all for you Brooke." They laughed as Brooke gave a bow of appreciation at her words.

"And finally to life Post-Her Whoreship." Brooke added, "Who had her head stuck up Nathan's ass from the moment she got here."

"Er...Brooke, you do realise you just managed to make three references to Nathan's rear end in one toast?" Peyton said incredulously as everyone laughed realising the truth in her words, and the look of disbelief on Brooke's face. _Only Brooke…_

"You been checking me out Davis?" Nathan quirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh please." Brooke scoffed.

"You know you want me."

"Never did, never have, and never will. You can trust me on that Scott." Brooke replied.

"Okay, how about we just toast already huh?" Lucas piped in, "Cheers."

They all raised their glasses and drank.

The DJ then played Easy by Paula DeAnda.

"Oooh, I love this song!" She instantly grabbed Peyton's arm to go dance. Before she turned around Haley noticed a certain gleam in her eye, but couldn't understand what Brooke was up to. She then saw her wink before she turned to the boys.

"Hey!" She snapped her fingers in front of Lucas and Jake, demanding that they come with them.

"Because, you can't just leave us defenceless in a crowd of horny college guys!" Brooke reasoned when Lucas asked 'why?'

"There's college guys here?" Lucas looked over to the dance floor where there was indeed a bunch of older guys leering at all the girls.

"Well in that case, we're coming." Jake said adamantly.

That was one thing Haley had noticed about Jake, he was a true gentlemen at all times.

"We are?" Lucas said, clearly not with it.

As Haley watched the girls drag the boys with them she was confused as to why Brooke hadn't asked her to come to. _And what was up with that wink?_

"Don't feel like dancing?" Nathan asked while she shook her head. _Apparently not. _

"You?"

"God no." Nathan laughed. "Brooke knows better than to ask me. I hate dancing."

"Why?"

"Because." Nathan shrugged. Seeing Haley give him a disbelieving look he sighed, "I'm just…" He then mumbled unintelligibly.

"Sorry, what was that?

Nathan puffed out a sigh knowing she wouldn't give up. "I can't dance."

Haley laughed until she realised he was being serious.

"That can't be true. Everyone can dance."

"Not me." Nathan said smiling.

Evidently his lack of grace on the dance floor didn't irk him. They stood there in comfortable silence, side by side, their arms barely an inch apart.

"What?" Nathan asked seeing her look.

"Nothing…you just look happier." He had been smiling a lot more this night than she'd seen him do so the whole time she'd been here.

_Well being around you brings it out in me._

Of course he didn't say that. But he did say, "I have to say, I haven't felt this good in ages." He looks at the crowds around him. "Its nice feeling like I don't have to pretend anymore."

"Good for you." Haley said softly.

"I'm free to do what I want now." Nathan confirmed.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess, I just want to look for something more next time." Seeing Haley's gaze fixed on him he elaborated.

"All the girls around here are the same. Look around…" Haley followed where he indicated.

Sure enough, all the girls around the place seemed to be slutting it up at the party. Half dressed in clothes that seemed to be hanging off anyway. And what caught her attention was that most of them seemed to be looking their way. Or really, at Nathan.

_Clearly news has got out that Nathan Scott is back on the market._ Haley thought, annoyed at the way they were all batting their eyes his way, adjusting their clothes so as much could be seen as possible; generally just vying for his attention.

_God, how can they want to degrade themselves so much?!_ Haley hated it when girls acted like that. They would be as trashy as possible just to grab the attention of some hot guy? Didn't they understand that by treating themselves and their bodies in such a worthless unrespectable way, they were giving guys permission to treat them that way too? _I will never understand that._

"Kinda puts you off doesn't it?" Nathan added. Haley nodded not trusting herself to speak. Nathan had shifted in his stance and in the process his arm had brushed hers.

She couldn't even begin to describe the sudden sparks flying through her body.

"That's another reason I stuck with Rachel so long." He continued and Haley tried to brush off any tingling feelings to actually focus on what he was saying.

"Guess I just didn't see any other options…all girls around here are the same."

"They can't all be that bad," Haley reasoned taking a sip of her drink, while wondering why Nathan was telling her this.

"Nah…there's no one_ different_." He claimed. "Someone who grabs your attention…who's gorgeous, smart, funny, sexy…"

He trailed off and Haley felt herself fluster hearing Nathan's voice get huskier with each word. "No girl like that here."

Taking another sip she didn't notice him move closer until his mouth was next to her ear. "Well there wasn't until recently…"

Haley caught her breath, as she felt a shiver right down her spine. _Oh. My. God!_ She suddenly felt a lot hotter, and was pretty sure she was blushing like a tomato.

_Oh my god!_ Was Nathan Scott was flirting with her?

She turned around, only to find Nathan hadn't moved back. The result left them both closer together, their faces mere centimeters from one another.

Haley looked up to see Nathan's eyes staring at her intensely. _God he's gorgeous_. Being so near him, she was able to see his handsome features up close. But she couldn't draw herself away from his eyes. Those eyes…deep blue pools of sapphire having not left her face.

His gaze moved over her striking features, only to land on her lips. Those lips…he'd been fantasizing about what it would be like to kiss her earlier. _Maybe now's my chance…_

Under a dark night coated with the bright lights of their surroundings…in a crowd of hormone-raging partygoers…both of them leaned forward slowly…quietly anticipating what was to come…

…when…

"HALEY!"

_Holy crap!_ Haley's head instantly jerked back as they both looked up to see Skills making his way over. "Hey James!"

_Damnit Skills!! _Nathan blew out a frustrated sigh. Seeing Haley completely turn away from him he almost had the urge to go sock the guy. _What the hell was so important he couldn't wait a few more seconds?...I almost had her. _

Haley on the other hand was freaking out. _Okay…breathe…what the hell was that?! You're not supposed to be almost-kissing Nathan Scott!! Jesus Haley, the guy just broke up with his girlfriend! _

_Argh…breathe again… keep breathing…what did Skills just say?_

"You owe me a dance James."

"Huh? Oh yeah…sure…er, let's go" Haley rambled pretty sure she just made a fool of herself.

Nathan watched as Skills led her to the dance floor both annoyed at himself and his friend. _Great, now she's gonna avoid me like the plague._

"Hey Nate, what's up man?" Tim came over.

"I need a drink." He stated before going back to the keg.

"Okay…"

* * *

"Hey Nathan…"

"Hmmm…"

"Dude what is up with you tonight?" Lucas asked.

His brother seemed completely in his own world today. Seeing him looking off in the distance again, Lucas was tempted to throw his drink in his face. _Anything to get him to wake up._

"NATHAN!"

Nathan jumped as did a few people surrounding them.

"What the hell Luke? Are you trying to make me deaf?!"

"Geeze, finally. I've only been trying to talk to you for the last 20 minutes. But no…you decided to go off into your Nathan-land, and I've looked like a complete idiot talking to myself this whole time."

"Could you sound like any more of a girl?" Nathan smirked at his older, blonder brother.

"Whatever. So what the hell is up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Right."

"Exactly."

"Fine."

"Yeah."

"Good talk bro." Lucas muttered as Nathan stared off again. The guy looked freakin' possessed.

Lucas had originally thought something was wrong. He'd seen his brother just standing there staring off while Tim had tried to talk to him at the keg. Having made his way over and saved Tim from an extremely one-sided conversation from the looks of it, he had unintentionally taken over the place for himself.

Hearing a sudden intake of sharp breath next to him, he turned confused. Was it him, or was his brother suddenly looking very flustered. _Huh?_

Following his eye-line, he saw him looking at the dancefloor. _Figures_.

Lucas rolled his eyes. He should've guessed; Nathan was too busy checking out all the hot girls grinding on the dancefloor to listen to him.

Hearing sudden catcalls and whistling from the direction Nathan was looking, Lucas became curious. Shifting slightly, he looked in the direction, that apparently every male was staring. _Please don't let it be Rachel strip-dancing again…_

_Whoa…_

Right in the centre of the dancefloor was none other than three gorgeous girls they all happened to know.

Brooke, Peyton and Haley all seemed to be having a lot of fun on the dancefloor, dancing their hearts out. What they didn't notice, was that their sexy moves were attracting a lot of attention.

For a moment he was hooked on the site as everyone else was. Then unfortunately the song came to an end and the girls had decided to take a break, much to the male population's disappointment.

Nathan took a deep breathe trying to calm himself. Closing his eyes, he tried to rid his mind of the images that had been running through it earlier.

Him lined up behind that hot blonde that had been invading his mind a lot recently…an upbeat track ringing out across the floor, her grinding up against him…his hands on her waist holding her close. Feeling her smaller body pushing against him, as his hands grew bolder…moving up and across her bare stomach, brushing across it sensually. Her head thrown back against his shoulder, her scent surrounding him, her lips again exposed to his gaze…his own mouth moving down to cover hers as though drawn by some hidden magnetic force…

_Damn I need a cold shower, and I need one now!_

He didn't understand it. No girl had had such an effect on him before. He was practically picturing them having dry sex on the dancefloor!

"Damn that girls good."

His brother's voice shook him from his less than pure thoughts.

"Huh?"

"That Haley James." Lucas saw how Nathan's attention was immediately on him. "She's really good…she's already gotten to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dude, you keep spacing out constantly when she's nearby. And you're looking pretty hot and flustered after watching her dance." Lucas smirked as his brother obviously tried to regain his cool. _Not very often you catch the younger Scott out. _

"Nah man, that's just cos I…er…had too much to drink." Nathan clarified unconvincingly.

"Uh sure. Try selling that excuse when I don't know you're only on your second cup."

Lucas eyed his brother, "You've been staring at her all night…I was right – you do have a crush."

"Oh please," Nathan scoffed "I was staring at _all_ the girls. There happens to be more than one girl on the dancefloor."

"You're in denial." Lucas commented.

"Like you're one to talk." _If I can't talk myself out of it, might as well turn the tables on him._

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't act like you're not still in love with one of those girls." He indicated towards Brooke and Peyton.

Lucas looked away, purposely avoiding his gaze. "Its true isn't it? You're still not over her."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Lucas muttered. "Neither of them are willing to give me the time of day, let alone a second chance."

"I wouldn't say that." Nathan got his attention. "I mean, Peyton seems more than willing to give you another chance."

"And Brooke?"

"Er…yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath." Nathan patted his shoulder. "But we all know Lucas."

"All know what?" Lucas asked baffled.

"Its Peyton isn't it?" Nathan smiled figuring it was exactly what his brother wanted to hear.

"Huh? Is that what everyone thinks?" Lucas frowned. He hadn't realised he'd given off that impression.

"Yeah, you guys _have_ been hanging around again. And this whole thing happened cos you chose her over Brooke…granted doing that while you were with Brooke wasn't the best idea but…" He trailed off seeing his brother take on the infamous broody expression he was known for.

"It's a good thing Luke. Maybe the second time round it'll be better for you and Peyton, at least she's forgiven you." Nathan gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess." Lucas sighed.

He then tuned out slightly as some of their basketball team-mates came over and started chatting with Nathan.

Turning his gaze back to the dancefloor he saw some college creep harassing Haley to dance with him. Annoyed, his jaw set, he got ready to go over there and get the guy the hell away from her.

Before he had even taken a step he saw Brooke swoop in out of nowhere. He watched as she got in between Haley and the guy, and she looked furious. She immediately took control of the situation.

She started yelling at the guy, insulting him and making threats over what she would do to certain body parts if he ever laid a hand on her _friend_ again. There was something almost comical about seeing an almost 7 ft college guy being berated by a 5ft something brunette. _But then Brooke Davis is never intimidated by anyone._

Having successfully gotten rid of the creep, she turned around to check on Haley, who thanked her, assured her she was fine and told Brooke to stop apologizing.

As they made their way off the dancefloor, they past Lucas. Brooke noticed him at the last second, having been too busy fretting over Haley. Their eyes locked…and for a moment he almost saw that old twinkle in her eye, that she would get whenever she looked at him.

But quick as a flash it was replaced with a look of indifference, her eyes now cold and empty.

"Is she okay?" Lucas whispered just before she walked out of earshot.

"She's fine." Brooke said without looking at him.

As they walked away, he thought Haley had been really lucky landing Brooke for her roommate. One thing he knew about Brooke was her fierce loyalty and protection to those she cared for; and Haley was now on the list of precious few.

"Of course she is." Lucas said watching her walk into the distance. "She has you…" He whispered to himself.

"Hey Luke!" A guy called Vegas from the team called him over from where he'd drifted from the crowd.

"Grab a drink, we're toasting."

Taking the offered beverage from his hand, Lucas joined in as they each made a separate toast for the new school year, as was their tradition.

On Lucas' turn he coincidentally found himself looking directly at a feisty brunette laughing with her two blonde friends by the water.

"Here's to…getting what we want this year…" His eyes never leaving Brooke, "No matter how hard it seems."

And with that they all drank, toasting the new school year to come…not knowing of the trials and tribulations that lay ahead.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey Guys - I'm BACK!! :) My finals were over a week over, and after sleeping for about 3 days straight I finally go working on this next chapter. I know this chapter is not as long as my previous ones, but since I'm free for the holdiays now, I'll be able to update more often. So hope you enjoy and please review! **

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"_Tell me fellas have you seen her? It was about five minutes ago when I seen the hottest chick that a young'n never seen before"__**- Chris Brown**_

"My god Haley-bub I don't know how much more of this I can hear!"

"Dad, it's not _that _bad." Haley smiled into the phone.

"Yeah…but Bub – you got hit on by a _girl_?!" Haley laughed as her father rambled on about what kind of a school he'd sent his poor baby off to.

"What happened?" Haley heard her mum in the background. She heard whispered tones as her father relayed back to her mum.

"Wohoo! Go Bub!!" Her mother shrieked. _My mum ladies and gentlemen. _

"Lydia!"

"What? The whole reason we sent her there was so she could try out new things." _Oh dear god tell me my mum did not just say that!_

"Not _those_ kinds of things." Jimmy mumbled.

"Oh please, you're telling me you didn't experiment a little in high school?" _What the hell?!_

"You're telling me you did?!" Jimmy said astonished. _Okay, so need to stop this conversation now!_

"Well if you _must _kno-"

"OKAY! You know what…" Haley interrupted, "I think I'm just going to hang up now and let you guys have a _clearly _overdue conversation."

"Well who on earth would you have 'experimented' with?" She heard her father's curious yet disturbed tone.

_Aaahhh ewww…hang up now!_

"Okay, bye now." Haley shut the phone just as she heard her dad shout "ASHLEY DAVIDS!!"

Haley just stared at the phone for a second in shock to what she heard. _Okay there are some things that you just shouldn't EVER know about your parents._

"Ungggrhhh…it's too damn early!" Brooke bitched walking out of the bathroom.

"Good morning to you too sunshine." Haley cheered. One thing she learned about Brooke Davis was that she really wasn't a morning person.

"Was that your parents again?"

Haley nodded. Her parents had rung her every morning at 6am on the dot. Needless to say Brooke was highly annoyed with the interruptions to her beauty sleep.

"Yup. And they're probably discussing their wild high school conquests as we speak." She muttered absentmindedly.

"Huh?" Brooke asked.

Haley just shook her head, and handed the poor girl a cup of coffee.

Later while they were getting ready, the inevitable topic came up. The party.

"…and omigod, I have to say that the guys this year seemed to have gotten even hotter. Did you see Vegas Jones? Man he must've been working out. His biceps could crack walnuts!"

"Is that the guy who tried to slap Peyton's ass?" Haley remembered how Peyton had practically drop-kicked the guy after that.

"Yeah, they never learn…" Brooke sighed. "So did you have fun?"

"Yeah, I had a great time Brooke." Haley smiled. She really did.

The people Brooke had introduced her to were great. The cheerleading squad was full of lively, bubbly girls that made her laugh. Most of the guys were horny pervs, but there were the odd few from the basketball and football teams that were pretty nice. Actually aside from Rachel, the place was pretty cool.

_Not to mention the highlight of your evening. A near kiss with Nathan Scott!_

Haley felt flustered just thinking about it. She'd known the guy a week… spoken to him a handful of times… single-handedly managed to help him break up with his girlfriend… and was then almost kissing him at a party a few hours later!!

_What has gotten into you James?_

Haley had been through a fair few relationships, and she wasn't exactly a blushing virgin - Taylor had seen to that – but this is the first time she felt this attracted to a guy! It was pretty fast for her.

_But then Nathan is just _that_ hot…_

"And I was totally right wasn't I H. James?"

"Huh?" Haley said suddenly, tuning out of Nathan-land.

"You and N. Scott seemed to be getting _cosy_."

"I'm not sure what you mean." _That's it, play it dumb…_

"Oh please! You can't have missed the way he was staring at you last night…" Brooke went on as Haley's thoughts drifted to the previous evening.

It was true. Every time she turned around Nathan seemed to be there, and each time she'd looked at his gorgeous face, she was surprised to find those intense dark pools staring right back.

"…I mean I don't know what you did New Girl," Haley tuned back in, "But you've managed to cast a spell on Nathan 'HotShot' Scott."

"Yeah right," she scoffed.

"I'm serious."

"No you're delusional."

"Am not! I've been watching you guys you know, it's so obvious! Not to mention, after what happened last night." She looked at Haley pointedly.

Haley made sure not to change her expression from one of disbelief. But inside she was practically jumping for joy.

There was no question about it. She had a schoolgirl crush the size of Texas on Nathan Scott.

_Flashback:_

"_Damn girl…" An out of breath Skills led Haley from the dance floor to a spot on the side of the beach where everyone else was seated._

"_You alright Skills, you look a little out of breath." Lucas observed as Haley and Skills sat in the circle._

"_It was all her man," Skills pointed over at Haley who suppressed a laugh._

"_Wait, you're saying Haley wore you out on the dance floor?" Brooke raised and eyebrow as the guys snickered._

"_Hey man, all that moving about for so long ain't that easy!" _

"_Aren't you supposed to be an athlete?" Haley smirked as the rest snickered._

"_Look shortie, I play ball right. And in training they don't teach you nothing about how to keep up when some hot girl's all grinding up on you…" _

_Everyone laughed before Tim made the inevitable comment, "Now that's the kind of ball I'd sign up for!" High-fiving Nathan who was the nearest. _

"_Yes, but Tim what girl would willingly ever grind up against you?"_

"_Why, you offering?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Brooke who shot him a look of disgust._

_After that, everyone just relaxed chatting about random things. Eventually the topic of school came up and Peyton had asked Haley about what classes she had. _

_While comparing schedules Haley was happy to note that she had at least one of her newfound friends in each of her classes. _

"_It sucks that we only have two classes…" Brooke pouted_

_Overall Haley found that she had English everyone, Chemistry with the girls, Calculus and Spanish with Lucas, Algebra with Jake and Skills, ICT with Mouth, Psychology with Tim, and History, Biology, Physics, Business and French with Nathan. _

_Secretly she was excited at the prospect of so many classes with Nathan. _Though I doubt I'll be able to concentrate much with his gorgeous self there.

"_Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other James." Nathan smiled over at her. _

Oh yeah, _no way in heck was she going to be able to concentrate._

"_Guess so" They shared a smile, oblivious to the fact that everyone else was watching on in interest. _

"_Well well…isn't this cute…" A voice snarled, nearing the group._

_Everyone turned to see a drunk redhead, wearing barely-there clothing stumble her way over. _

"_It's the Slut Brigade," She looked pointedly at Brooke and Peyton. She then turned her scowl on Haley, "And their newest member, hey there Heather..." She slurred slightly_

"_It's Haley."_

"_Whatever," Rachel dismissed her response, "So have you slept with Nathan yet?" Tim choked on his drink at that. _

"_I mean, the only reason he left me was to get in your pants. But since you're the one that got him to break it off, you're not exactly complaining huh?"_

_Everyone was shocked by the insinuations the drunken slut had just come out with. _

_Haley was infuriated. _How dare she imply such things?!

_Before she had a chance to respond however, Nathan's voice piped up._

"_You know Rachel, I didn't think a conniving whore like you could get any worse, but you seem to outdo yourself every time. Here's a thought…why don't you go off, do what you do best and fuck some random prick. Leave Haley and the rest of us alone!" _

_Rachel looked dumbstruck at the harsh words – coming from Nathan no less. And she wasn't the only one; the rest of the gang looked surprised too._

_And if things couldn't get more surprising, Tim's voice rang out clearly._

"_Yo Rachel, what are you doing here?" _

"_It's a _party_ Dim."_

"_I know…but didn't Nate like…dump your ass? It's kinda lame that you're still stalkin' him."_

_Everyone stifled grins at Rachel's infuriated face and at Tim's words. Rachel, either too intoxicated to formulate a response, or still reeling from Nathan having had a go at her for the first time…ever, stumbled off back into the crowds. All that could be heard were muttering of curse words as she went. _

_Skills turned to Nathan at that point, "Seriously, three months with _that_ dawg?"_

_Nathan grimaced, "Temporary insanity?"_

"_Is it wrong that I really wanna slap her?" Haley grit out, to which everyone laughed._

"_I'm surprised you haven't yet New Girl."_

"_Trust me, it's tempting. But I really don't think it'd be a good idea to get into a fight _before_ I've even started the school."_

"_So when you have… are we in for some hot, muddy, catfight wrestling?" Skills eyes gleamed wickedly at the thought. _

_Suddenly all the guys seemed to picture the same thing, each one smirking at the idea. _

"_Hey, stop being pervy!" Brooke claimed. _

"_Yeah, besides I think you're right Haley. It's not a good idea to start something now. Rachel's just a bitch and though I would really love you to claw her eyes out right about now, you're really good for not having gone off at her yet."_

"_Yeah, well it turns out I didn't have to say anything." Haley looked pointedly at Nathan, and everyone congratulated him, the boys slapping high-fives with Tim too._

_A little while later, when everyone started to return to the dorms, Haley turned to Nathan who was walking beside her. _

"_Thanks." Seeing his questioning look she added, "For before, with Rachel." He had defended her after all. _

"_Anytime." He smiled back, mimicking her words from earlier that morning. The only difference being this time _she_ was watching _him_ walk away. _

_End Of Flashback_

"You know, that was totally cute how he defended your honour." Brooke obviously thinking of the same thing as her. "And to Rachel of all people, I've never seen him act as anything short of a whipped lapdog when it comes to her."

"Brooke!"

"What? It's true." She shrugged.

"Well, I certainly wasn't the only one getting attention last night." Haley looked pointedly at her. She may as well turn the tables on her, anything to get Brooke off this topic.

"Ooooh who?" Brooke clapped her hands together.

"Well Lucas didn't seem to have taken his eyes off you all night." Haley said carefully, gauging her reaction.

She almost thought she saw a look of pure joy on her face, before just as quickly it was replaced by a look of disbelief.

"You're wrong," She sighed heavily, "I was standing next to Peyton all night – he was probably looking at her." She ended on a bitter note which did not evade Haley's notice.

Though she could tell that Brooke didn't wish to discuss anything further and so let the subject drop. She was curious as to what went down between Brooke, Peyton and Lucas. If it was as bad as it was made out to be, then how come Brooke and Peyton were still friends? And they were still somewhat civil to Lucas…well Peyton more so.

A half hour later they had both gotten ready for the first day of the year. Or in Haley's case, her first day at the school.

"Now, are you sure about this, cos I could still take you to your first class? I mean I know I have Algebra on the other side of school, but I would only be about 20 minutes late dropping you off first…"

"It's okay Brooke; I don't want you to miss your first lesson."

"You sure Roomie? Cos I mean…I really wouldn't mind missing algebra, god knows…I never have any idea what Mr Chavez is going on about. Though I do have to admit that he is one hell of a hottie…" She trailed off dreamily.

"I'm sure, but its fine."

"…not that I'd ever get it on with a teacher, that's just too low even for me. But sure under different circumstances, I'd totally take him for a ride…"

"Brooke!" She snapped her friend out of it.

"Huh…oh yeah…but you totally come first New Girl," She affirmed.

"That's really great Tigger, but I know where I'm going and I really don't want to keep you from algebra…or Mr Chavez."

"Okay only if you're sure."

"Really I am. Besides I'm gonna have to be really retarded to get lost in this place."

* * *

_Famous last words. _

Haley sighed looking round. Only _she _would actually be retarded enough to get lost in the place.

Checking her watch she realised her first lesson was about to start – history.

_Damn_. Seeing the three passages in front of her she groaned. There was no way she'd be able to figure this out for herself.

_Okay, I just have to get back to the office and hopefully they'd be able to tell me where to go._

Turning around she stopped. _Oh crap._

_Which way was the office again?_

"Damnit, how useless can you get James?!" She looked around frustrated with herself. "Of all the things in the family, you had to go and inherit Uncle Ty's crappy sense of direction."

Looking around again she came to a decision to just go back down the corridor she came from and work from there.

Annoyed, frustrated and in a rush to get round the corner, she didn't see the other person running round. As a result she ended up walking into someone's rock hard chest.

"Oh my-" She stumbled backwards, bracing herself to fall, when the person reaches out to catch her. She immediately grabbed hold of their arms to pull herself up.

"-god. Thanks…er…" She looked up to see her saviour, "Nathan?!"

"Hey," he smirked down at her.

She then realised their position. She was practically pressed up against his well built abs. Extremely well built... Not to mention her hands were gripping those firm, muscular biceps, clearly displayed by the black muscle shirt he was wearing. _For frigs sake, quit checking him out! _Feeling flustered at their close embrace she let go of his arms.

He then let go of her waist, his hand slowly drawing away; tantalisingly brushing against the skin visible between her shirt and jeans. His eyes were on hers as his fingers slid across her lower back, her skin as soft as silk under his touch.

_Holy crap, how hot is it in here?!_ She felt sure she was blushing, probably from the tingles left on her skin where his hand was, and she suddenly had the urge to apologise. After all she had practically been feeling the guy up!

"Er…sorry about…that." She cleared her throat.

"It's alright…I didn't mind at all." He drawled out smoothly in response, his smirk getting even bigger if possible.

He found himself strangely appealed by the faint blush colouring her cheeks. And he certainly wasn't against the idea of having her up against him again any time soon. He noticed how she tucked a piece of hair nervously behind her ear. _She is so adorable…_

It was strange. Usually he'd have girls finding excuses to touch him, and here…here there was a girl who seemed almost guilty of practically being thrown at him. _She is definitely different._

"So James, what are you doing roaming the halls, and attacking basketball stars that come in your path?"

She smiled at that.

He liked making her smile.

"Hey, I wasn't attacking anyone! And I'm not _roaming the halls_...geeze...this is going to sound totally retarded now, but I'm actually completely lost. Yeah, I know, how stupid is that? But really it's not my fault. I mean, I was never good with maps, signs…or directions in general. I totally inherited that from my uncle; god knows how many times he got lost on his way over to our place. You know my dad always said he was lucky he ever found his way back home every time. So yeah, it's _really_ not my fault, I have like a genetic predisposition to this kind of thing…and really I'm just…going to stop talking now."

She stopped her tirade leaving an amused Nathan in her wake.

"Do you always ramble so much?" He chuckling finding it quite endearing.

"Er…well yeah. Another bad habit. Or strange habit if you will."

"Well, I'd say it's your lucky day Haley James since we have the same class and I don't have a… what was it? A genetic predisposition from a directionally-challenged uncle." He smiled as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Fine, lead the way Scott."

As she followed him down the halls, she thanked him for helping her out.

"No problem. I'm all for helping out damsels in distress." He winked.

Haley laughed, "I'll have you know Scott, that despite what you think, I'm a big girl and I _can _look after myself."

"Somehow I don't doubt that," he smirked, his husky voice sending shivers up her spine.

In no time at all they reached the classroom door. Haley sighed realising that everyone else was already inside and seated. She hated being the centre of attention when it wasn't exactly for a good thing, like being late to your _first _class, on your _first_ day at a brand new school.

"Its okay," Nathan came up behind her seemingly sensing her nervousness, and placed a hand on her lower back. "Come on," she found it rather soothing as his hand rubbed her back before entering the classroom.

As they walked in silence fell.

_Talk about making an entrance_.

It was enough attention with just being the new girl. But apparently, being the new girl _and _walking into class late with THE Nathan Scott, was a whole other level.

After a few seconds of silence, whispers broke out immediately as the teacher turned to face the newcomers.

"Well, Mr Scott…nice to see you _finally_ join our class as usual."

"I wouldn't want to deny you of my presence now would I Mr Hennessey."

_Clearly there's no love lost between these two. _Haley noticed how the professor eyed Nathan with disdain.

"I would've thought that as a new year begins, you may have actually worked out what time class starts Mr Scott. But it seems that I've overestimated your capabilities yet again."

Haley was shocked. Looking at Nathan's indifferent face she realised he must be used to this kind of treatment. And that just disgusted her even more. _Who does he think he is talking to him like that?_

Well she certainly wasn't okay with it.

"_Actually_," Haley stepped up from behind Nathan so she was in full view of the teacher. "Nathan was late for a reason; he was helping me find my way to class."

Mr Hennessey raised an eyebrow at her, probably wondering if her excuse was legit. It was true though, if she hadn't slammed into him and then rambled on about getting lost, Nathan would probably have made it to class on time.

Nathan was pleasantly surprised with her sticking up for him. It felt nice to have her defend him, even though it was unexpected.

"Aah, Miss James I presume?" She nodded. "Yes, I have your transcripts right here."

He looked at a few slips on his desk. He was clearly reading her credentials, so Haley waited for it. She wasn't disappointed. Mr Hennessey's eyes widened considerably, and Haley would bet anything he'd just read about her 4.2 GPA.

He looked up at her incredulously, and Haley really hoped he wouldn't voice it out loud. Though she was proud of her hard work, the last thing she wanted to be was labelled by everyone as the freaky 4.2 GPA nerd; she'd had a few people share their views on that in her old school already.

But what surprised her, was instead of bringing attention to her achievements, the teacher seemed to be looking between Nathan and herself. Scrutinizing them even. And it was definitely a very displeased expression.

And just like that his expression changed, his eyes brightened and he welcomed her into the class, seemingly pretending Nathan did not exist. Once told to take their seats, Haley and Nathan walked towards the back, where the only two available ones were left.

As Nathan followed Haley to her seat, he glanced around and noticed the interest she was attracting. Most of the girls were either whispering about her or they were simply batting their eyelids his way. However the guys were a different story. He noticed practically every hot-blooded teenage male in the class was staring at her, up and down, checking her out. Their intense gazes lingering on certain assets of her body…her ample chest…her curvaceous butt…or simply her gorgeous face.

Nathan would bet anything that Haley had no idea she was probably even drawing this much attention. And despite only knowing her so long, he knew that if she did, she would find it embarrassing.

He on the other hand found it downright annoying. He had no idea why, but he didn't like the way all the guys were looking at her. Sure, he couldn't exactly blame them…she was hot as hell. But that didn't give them an excuse to be staring at her like some piece of meat!

He had no idea where this irrational protectiveness was coming from. Maybe it's because unlike any other girls, Nathan had longer than a five second conversation with Haley, that didn't revolve around her nails, her hair, or the latest celebrity gossip. Or maybe it was because he genuinely liked her company, and realised there was a lot more to Haley than just a pretty face. An _exceptionally_ pretty face…but still. Maybe he'd gathered that she was unique... special even. Totally different from the other sluts in the academy.

And just _maybe_, he didn't want any other guy to realise that.

As they sat and Mr Hennessey continued, Nathan turned to Haley. She'd just taken out her notebook when he caught her attention.

"Thanks for the save." He whispered indicating to the stiff professor at the front.

"No problem," she dismissed it with a wave of her hand as she smiled.

* * *

Turning to get his books out Nathan caught the eye of Brett Reynolds, a team-mate of his. Brett and Nathan weren't that close, but Brett had always somewhat admired Nathan over his conquests. As this seemed like the same old scenario, Brett did what he always did. He gave Nathan an approving look and thumbs up, leering over at Haley as he did so, while mouthing something along the lines of 'hot ass'.

Now Brett had always sent this same signal to Nathan, every time he'd seen Nathan with some serious hottie. And Haley was no different. Nathan was therefore used to it, and would always respond in a glorified manner, with a smug smirk to prove that he was indeed the BMOC. That he could get any girl, any time, any where, any how. So you could imagine Brett was really confused, that on giving Nathan the usual signal today, as he had _always_ done; Nathan Scott simply glared at him and flipped him off before getting back to work.

He could only wonder what the hell had gotten into Nathan Scott.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry its so late, but here's the next chapter. I've barely been in the house long enough this summer to actually get any writing done! But I hope to get the next chapter up soon. I'm going to bringing in more NH into the next chapters, after all this story is primarily about them.**

**Please Read and Review!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"_Do one thing every day that scares you." __**–**__**Eleanor Roosevelt**_

Haley had now officially been here for a few days and was slowly easing into her new life at THA.

Walking out of Business she heard him groan beside her.

"This can't get any worse." She turned smiling at a pouty Nathan.

"The first damn lesson and we've got more work than we've learnt!" Nathan sighed dramatically.

"Oh come one, its not that bad." Haley countered.

Nathan scared incredulously at her smiling face, and proceeded to vent the whole way to the grounds. "…and I swear I didn't know half of what the dude was saying! What kind of moron has some stupid Scottish accent that no one could understand? And _then_ he has the nerve to give us a crapload of homework that's gonna take at least a month to do!"

"Geeze, what's got his panties in a bunch?" Brooke asked as Haley and a grumbling Nathan sat down at their bench.

It was the bench right near the courts where they always hung out in good weather. Everyone knew it was _their _bench, so no one else ever came near it.

"Oh, he's just annoyed cause he can't keep up with the class," Haley dismissed.

"Hey, I can keep up just fine…in any _normal_ class. But that dude seriously thinks we're robots or something. I don't know anyone besides _you _who actually got anything out of the class." Nathan looked at her almost accusingly.

"What are we talking about?" Lucas came over and sat down beside Brooke, completing their quad. Haley noticed Brooke seemed a bit awkward, before slapping a big smile on her face.

"Oh just about Haley's oversized brain."

"Huh…no arguments there." Lucas said. Seeing Haley's look he added, "Come on, remember yesterday in Calculus?"

"Vaguely."

"So basically everyone else is trying to figure out what the hell is going on on the board, when Mr Barns asks a question. No one says a word. Then little Miss James puts her hand up…to answer the question naturally…but no – she goes one step further, and _corrects_ the teacher about some formula he got wrong."

Nathan and Brooke goggled at her.

"Hey! It's a simple mistake – anyone would've noticed…after a while."

"Guess again. Well Roomie, that's what you get for having a 4.2 GPA."

Nathan choked on his drink and Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"You been holding out on me James," the blonde brother smiled.

"Perhaps." The smirk dropped from her face when she looked next to her. "Nathan, you can stop staring at me like I'm a freak."

"It's…just…like…wow…you're…er smart." He uttered.

"And apparently you're not so much." Brooke added causing Nathan to glare at her.

"_Really_ smart." He added, seeming to mull something over. _Damn, she's beautiful, funny, sexy, and way __way__ smart. _He felt a little out of his league next to how perfect she was.

"Yes okay, I'm a nerd and proud." She misread their looks, and suddenly she was rambling, much to the amusement of the other three, "So I'm smart, we've established that. I actually _like_ reading books, and doing word games, and all those sad little puzzles in the back of newspapers. And _yes_, maybe I _did_ play pretend SATs when I was little instead of playing sports or doing my nails. And maybe I _do _put post-its all over my textbooks, _and _highlight my favourite passages in my literature books… cause lets face it, I'm not even a nerd, I'm a full blown _geek_. But I am _proud_ of being a geek. And it's not like none of you guys have _ever_ not done anything nerdy."

She looked over at the faces present. Brooke shook her head, still trying to follow the end of her rant in her head. Nathan mimicked her movement, although his face was just fully amused at her venting.

Turning her head to Lucas, she looked almost pleading.

Sighing he muttered something like "I'm so about to lose all my street cred."

He pulled out his literature scripts and opened them up. She could see that he not only highlighted his favourite segments, but there were post its and messages on the sides clearly listing themes, and his thoughts on what the passages meant.

Next thing he knew, she was hugging him while squealing something like, "I KNEW IT! You're totally a geek too!"

Laughing he hugged her back, insisting that he wasn't _that _bad, not a geek…a nerd maybe. He'd never even heard of anyone playing pretend SATs.

They continued joking as Brooke joined in, and Nathan suddenly realised he wasn't smiling so much. It was great to see Haley bonding with everyone, but for some reason, seeing her so friendly with his brother did not feel so great. He could feel a weird stirring inside of him at the thought of them bonding and such.

He'd never felt jealous of Lucas, or inferior to him. Ever.

And suddenly there's Haley. And she's smart…no, she's _extremely _intelligent and wise. She could quote the words of famous people; people that in his book would be Michael Jordan and such…but in hers would be Steingold or Steinburke – or whatever the hell that dude was Lucas was always going on about. She had so much in common with her brother. Seeing them talking now, he could see them having a passionate debate, no doubt about one of _their_ other famous dudes. And he knew it wouldn't be the only one, there would be more to come.

How is it that some new girl that he barely even knew, could just come into his life and make him feel all these new feelings he'd never encountered before?

_Okay, this is way too deep. I shouldn't be thinking like this, it's not like I'm actually dating her. _Seeing a sudden smile break out on her face, he couldn't help but smile too. _Yet._

Shrugging he realised he needed to get a hold of himself. After all, basketball practice had started back up, and the season beginning was coming soon.

And he couldn't afford to start sucking in basketball. That was the _one_ thing he could do.

Looking over at Haley, he sighed wistfully. _But would it be enough?_

* * *

It was after lunch and Haley and Peyton were ambling on their way to Chemistry. Brooke was supposed to be with them, but she'd disappeared during lunch, dragging Mouth along with her.

"Alright, hmmm… best song by Jacks'?" Peyton turned.

"Now…could you be talking about Jack's Mannequin…or the Jackson Five?"

"I wonder." Peyton said dryly.

"That's tough…it's a tie between _The Mixtape_…and I'm kind of partial to _Rescued_."

"I hear ya. I would go with _The Mixtape_ first though. The lyrics are just amazing plus every time I play it, Brooke goes it makes her want to bang her head on the wall." She laughed.

"Well it is 'headbanging' music," Haley quipped as they entered the class and took their seats.

"Hey Peyton! Hey Haley!" Two girls from the cheerleading squad called out and they waved back. Haley liked the girls on the squad. Some of them could be a little dense, but on the whole they were sweet; a far cry from the squad at her old school.

The teacher was just about to start the lesson when Brooke came running in late. Peyton and Haley shared confused looks.

As Brooke took her seat, they noticed she looked kind of irritated, and not from the mini-lecture that Miss Campbell was giving her on punctuality. Something had really annoyed Brooke Davis.

"Alright girls," the teacher passed out instructions on the lab they were doing, and placed them in groups. Since Haley had arrived, there had been an odd number of students in her class, but Brooke and Peyton assured Miss Campbell that Haley could work with them in a group of three.

"So , what's got that murderous look in your eye?" Peyton asked warily. There was no knowing how Brooke may react under the circumstances.

"Uuurgh…I could just kill Theresa!" She spat out.

"I don't think she _literally_ mean't murderous Tigger."

"Yeah well she deserves it!"

"Wait, I thought Theresa was the girl whose place I took?" Haley asked, "Didn't she leave?"

"Exactly!"

"Ok Brooke, you're gonna have to clue us in over here. What's going on in that vengeful plotting head of yours?" Peyton joked.

"I spent lunch with Mouth auditioning the substitute cheerleaders."

"Oh," Peyton claimed while Haley was none the wiser. "Wait, I should've been there, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I already knew it was going to be pointless, and I didn't want to waste both of our times."

"Sorry what's gone wrong?" Haley asked, passing Peyton the tubes she'd been filling for the experiment.

As Peyton carried out the next part Brooke filled her in. "Well see, the cheerleading squad we have a group of 10 girls. Every _single_ cheer is choreographed for _10_ girls. So since Theresa left, there is now only _9_ girls. And of course, I auditioned all the subs that we have over lunch, but they're all too crap! The only reason I ever had subs was because the Dean said I had to, because it's _fair_ and the basketball team has them too. And I only agreed because I knew we wouldn't ever need the subs because we had _10 _girls! See my problem New Girl?" Brooke was practically hyperventilating at the end, causing several stares over their way.

"Okay, first of all Tigger –calm down." Haley sat her down, "Just breathe deeply. Yeah like that. Inhale…exhale."

Peyton chuckled at the intense look of concentration on Brooke's face over the simple act, and in return got a glare.

"Look, it's not that bad. Maybe the subs aren't as bad as you thought." Seeing her scrunched up face. "Or maybe they are. Well you could re-hold auditions again for the whole school, and you might find some new talent in another girl. Or maybe you could choreograph new routines with only 9 girls; we've still got a week until basketball season officially starts."

"But both of those would take too long. I can't work out new routines, when the whole squad knows all the old ones perfectly. And the only way to work in a new girl would be to have a new one _right now_. Auditioning the whole school before having to teach the new girl all the moves would take too long."

"We'll work something out Brooke." Peyton assured her as Haley rubbed her back before she started getting hysterical again.

"Yeah," Brooke smiled at Haley for the massage, "at this rate I'm thinking of trying to just trick Mouth onto the team. Heck we could get him to wear a wig; no one would ever sus-"

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence while talking to Haley. She stood up and continued gazing at Haley intensely.

"Er…Brooke?" Haley asked, a little confused at her actions, and seeing Peyton's expression she obviously felt the same.

"Haley…its you!" Brooke suddenly claimed before hugging the life out of her.

Turning to Peyton she repeated "It's Haley!"

The two blondes looked at her like she'd grown two heads.

"Well done Brooke…now who am I?" Peyton quipped.

Brooke rolled her eyes, but then beamed at them both. "No, you don't get it…Haley is our saviour! She's our tenth girl!"

Peyton smiled immediately liking the idea, whereas Haley suddenly felt a little anxious.

"Tenth what now?"

"_You_ could replace Theresa."

Before Haley could respond, they noticed Miss Campbell coming to check everyone's progress, and immediately set about carrying out the work. Though Brooke suddenly seemed a lot more energised.

"You know I don't know why I didn't think about it before." Brooke claimed as the teacher moved on from the bench. "This is just perfect-"

"Er…Brooke."

"-I mean, you might have to work day and night, but with my kind of training, you'll be good as new…"

"Seriously Brooke."

"…and we're gonna have to get you a uniform, I'm pretty sure I can get the Dean to issue one for you. You don't want Theresa's; the girl seriously had a BO problem-"

"Dammit Brooke!"

Peyton held back a laugh as a startled Brooke looked over at an annoyed Haley in surprise.

"Oh did you want Theresa's uniform?" Brooke looked seriously confused.

"No, I don't want Theresa's uniform…in fact I don't want _any_ uniform!"

Brooke looked over at Peyton, "I don't get it."

"I think what Haley's trying to say is-"

"Brooke I don't _want_ to be a cheerleader."

"-that." Peyton finished.

Brooke looked even more confused. "Why?"

It was as if she couldn't fathom why someone wouldn't want this extreme privilege.

"Because…because I just _don't_."

"Well that clears things up." Brooke said sarcastically.

"Come on Haley, why can't you help Brooke out in her _time of need_?" Peyton laid on the guilt thick and Haley gave her a dirty look. "Don't look at me like that Missy James; you're the one with cheer fear."

Brooke smirked at that and Haley sighed. "It's just a _really_ bad idea. I mean beyond normal bad…this is like utterly-embarrassing-hugely-impossible kinda bad!"

"Haley it's just cheering at basketball games, we're not asking you to go through kidney surgery or something…"

"You don't get it…I'm a _klutz_!!" Haley revealed as though it was some shameful secret. "I trip over my own feet, stumble every five minutes. I wouldn't be able to follow cheers to save my life…I mean; I even drowned in the ball pool at Chuck E Cheese when I was a kid." Brooke and Peyton shared an amused glance at that, but Haley didn't notice, "And I'm totally not cheerleader material, besides I probably wouldn't even fit into the uniform and look really fat-"

"Alright that's enough." Brooke interrupted. She had a grin on her face, but her eyes looked serious enough so that Haley knew she wasn't joking. Her expression mirrored on Peyton's face.

"First of all, how can you be so sure you'll do so horribly, when you've never tried it before? It's really not that difficult with some hard work and practice."

"And don't give us that 'can't follow a routine' crap." Peyton added, "We saw you busting all those moves on the dance floor at the party a few nights ago. You certainly did get a lot of attention…"

"Which brings me onto my next point Roomie…in what world would you call yourself fat??" She looked incredulous to the point that Haley wanted to retract her earlier comment. "Have you looked into a mirror? Or maybe you're completely blind, I don't know. The point is New Girl you have one hot bod there, and you'd probably put half the other cheerleaders to shame!"

Haley didn't really know what to say to that. _Awww, that's kind of sweet. I think I actually love these girls…_

She hadn't really had a lot of people compliment her like that before. In her old school, girls tended to be rather fake and slutty. She hadn't had any girlfriends before. Her sister Taylor had always told her that she was the "sexy girl next door" that all the guys panted after, but she never really saw it.

_Though you can't be a complete loss…_she told herself _remember who your ex-boyfriend is?_

"Haley" Peyton called, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"You went off into Haley-land. So what's the verdict?" Brooke cut to it.

Sighing as she watched Brooke's helpless face, a clear pout set firmly on her lips, she made a decision.

"Ok…fine I'll do it."

"Oh YAY!!" Brooke squealed jumping up and down clapping. Of course this caught the attention of the entire class.

As Miss Campbell proceeded to lecture Brooke on the hazards of overexcitement in the labs, Haley saw that unlike before she just listened, the wide grin on her face not disappearing.

_Oh great. What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

"So what's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"Haley, you've been staring at that sandwich for the last 20 minutes. At this rate, I'm going to eat it just to put it out of its misery." Nathan joked.

"Oh right." She took a bite almost cautiously.

"Are you ok?"

"Er…sure."

"Cause that sounds convincing." He said sarcastically.

She sighed…again. She knew it was stupid but she was really worried about this whole cheerleading idea. Brooke had already run off with Peyton to get her new uniform. She'd decided to wait for them in the grounds taking advantage of the few days of sunshine they have left before autumn begins to settle.

Nathan had seen her lost in thought as he made his way to the courts. Unable to resist this alone time with her (though his head was convincing him he was merely being polite) he sat down opposite her, only to find she barely noticed him arrive.

That didn't feel so great. He was _the_ Nathan Scott; he wasn't used to _not_ being noticed. A little irritated he'd decided to snap her out of her daydream.

"Sorry," she gave him an unsure smile, "I'm just a little distracted."

"I can see that, so what's the big problem?"

"What makes you think it's a big problem?"

"Well, it's got to be very important for you to be too distracted to check me out." And there was that smirk.

"And if I wasn't distracted, who says I would be checking you out?" Haley smiled a little despite herself.

"Because girls are always checking me out." He shrugged as thought it were obvious.

"You Nathan Scott are a little too full of yourself."

"Hey, I just have a good amount of self-esteem."

"Sure" She rolled her eyes.

Glad to have lightened the atmosphere he gave her what he hoped to be a reassuring expression.

"So now that I have your undivided attention, what's got you looking so lost James?"

He said the last part in a hushed tone, so as not to let any passers by overhear their conversation. In order to hear better Haley moved forward a little.

"Not lost…just a little nervous."

"Nervous? About what?" He'd moved slightly closer too.

Haley didn't know what to say. She didn't really want to tell him the real reason. Apart from Brooke and Peyton she didn't want anyone to know about her recently decided venture into the world of pompoms and too short skirts. But then she didn't want to lie to him - not when he was looking at her all concerned with those amazingly deep blue eyes. _Did I mention Nathan looks really cute when he's concerned….and I mean _really_ cute!_

"It's just…I mean…I like trying new things, really I do. Especially when it's to help out a friend. But when it's something so _different_ to what I'm used to, it can be a little scary…you know?"

Seeing Nathan's look she felt kind of stupid saying that. _Of course he doesn't know…do _you_ even know what the hell you're on about?!_

"Urgh, sorry. I'm making no sense…erm..."

"Actually I think I get what you mean." He practically whispered.

"You do?" She unconsciously moved closer.

"Yeah," he moved closer still "it happens all the time with me. Every time Whitey – our coach, comes up with a new play. Some I can get the hang of soon enough, but sometimes…there's one or two that are completely different to what the teams used to. To what _I'm_ used to. And there's always the feeling that I'm in way over my head with this one, and that something can so easily go wrong."

Seeing her face he chuckled, "Don't be so surprised, being a basketball player isn't as he easy as it sounds."

"Seems that way," she smiled.

"But the truth is Haley." She shivered slightly at the sound of her name in his husky tone. "Sometimes you have to go for things out of your comfort zone, and do things you're not used to. It's not guaranteed that you're always going to get it right, heck half the time I'm using a new play, the other team ends up scoring twice as much as us. And then other times, we win by a landslide. It's always a risk to try out new things, but sometimes you just have to, so you know how much you're capable of."

If Haley wasn't surprised before, she sure as hell was now. Who knew Nathan could be so…wise?

Nathan on the other hand suddenly felt kind of self conscious.

_What the hell was that?_

Since when did he spew all that psycho babble? That was Lucas' job. Or Dr Phil's. He wasn't the kind of guy who said things like that!

Looking down at the table he avoided Haley's glance. Though it was kind of hard, considering he could feel her breath on his lips.

They'd been leaning more towards each other as the conversation continued. And now they were literally a hair's breathe away from each other.

"Wow…who knew you could talk so eloquently?" She almost whispered, noticing just as he did that they were so close.

She was looking directly into his eyes, as he did hers. She had a sudden flashback to the night of the party. Why is it that they had this sudden underlying tension? The air was practically sizzling with chemistry around them. _And it doesn't help that he's staring at my lips…_

"There's a lot that you don't know about me." Nathan countered, although this time it wasn't followed by a smirk.

He was too busy studying her face. Her eyes looked so soft and warm, the chocolate brown captivating him completely. His eyes landed on her lips. They looked so soft and inviting. He was trying hard to resist the urge to pounce across the bench and crash his lips into hers.

She hadn't looked away from him at all. Not seemingly affected by his intense staring session. It was like they were-

_Oh. My. God. _

It was almost as if in slow motion, her teeth sank into her lower lip, biting on to it…almost nervously.

She was biting her lip.

Did she have any idea what a turn on that was?

He could practically feel his groin sparking to life. Dear God, this girl had _no_ idea what effect she had on him. She made him react like no other girl had managed before.

He could have pondered over why that may be, but he was too distracted. His ran his tongue over his lips, trying to get rid of the sudden dryness that had overtaken them.

He heard her sharp intake of breath. She'd noticed and she wasn't backing away.

Slowly he could feel himself leaning towards her, filling up the last inch of space between them. She still wasn't moving away. That was a good sign...a very good sign...

"HALEY!"

_GOD DAMNIT!! _

They sprang back to life, and back from each other. Only to look up and curse Brooke Davis simultaneously.

_Oh crap. Why Brooke why??_

Haley had no idea what just happened, but she did know that Brooke definitely broke up something that she didn't think she would have been against.

She couldn't help but sigh and feel extremely annoyed. She tried to listen as Brooke went on about having found what they were looking for, obviously trying to be discreet around Nathan.

_Nathan_.

She looked over to find him expelling a loud puff, shooting Brooke and Peyton (who Haley hadn't even noticed until now) death glares.

_Good to know I'm not the only one disappointed. Although...what does that mean exactly?_

Before she had time to wonder, she found herself suddenly being lifted out of her chair and dragged along by two determined girls.

"W-What's going on?"

"Geeze, Haley were you even listening to what I said?" Brooke yapped on about cheerleading and Haley nodded along. She noticed Peyton giving her a knowing look, but what exactly was she supposed to know?

"So basically, we have to get you into the outfit and see how it looks."

"Now?" Haley moaned, _they couldn't have waited till later? I was kind of in the middle of something!_

"And of course, we have to give you a complete makeover." Brooke added.

"What??"

"Come on Haley, every cheer hoe had to go through it."

"She's right." Peyton agreed.

"Look I only agreed to help you out. For god's sake I'm already going to do death defying stunts in too short skirts for you guys. And now you guys want to play dress up on me like some kind of doll?" _Not to mention you totally ruined a moment between me and Nathan Scott. Hear that? NATHAN FREAKIN' SCOTT!_

"Oh don't be so dramatic. It won't be that bad." Brooke smirked, doing anything but reassuring Haley.

"Its not like we're going to make you look like a slut Haley." Peyton reasoned.

"Much," Brooke corrected.

"Oh no no no." Haley groaned the rest of the way.

"Hey shorties what's happening?" Skills walked up with Lucas and Jake in tow.

"Not now guys, we're busy. We have to get Haley ready." Brooke stated all business-like.

"For what? Torture?" Jake claimed seeing Haley's expression.

"Ignore her she'll be fine." Peyton said as they continued dragging her away with Haley in protest.

"What do you think they're doing to her?" Lucas asked curious.

"I have no idea dawgs." Skills said, "But I'd sure as hell like to know what it is that made Haley look like that." He commented on her horrified expression.

They chuckled and carried on walking.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I have not forgotten about JBLP - they're included here. Let me know what you guys think.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"_The only time that you run out of chances, are the times when you stop taking them." __**– Unknown**_

"Well I have to say, that went _really _well." Brooke looked a tad smug as the three girls made their way to their next classes.

"Yeah Haley, you've really got a knack for this kind of thing." Peyton smiled genuinely.

Haley smiled back. They'd been having cheering sessions with her all week and she'd even surprised herself with how well she picked it up. _Apparently I've got moves…go me!_

"Of course, once we actually get you into the uniform, the image will be complete."

Brooke snorted. Haley had refused to wear the outfit yet. In her mind it was that official turnover, where she'd become a cheerleader…and she wasn't sure if she was completely ready for that. She had to face it soon though, considering their first game was in two days.

"Did you just snort Davis?" Haley smirked.

"Don't change the subject New Girl…and I _so_ did not snort!"

"You did too!"

"Did not!"

Peyton rolled her eyes as they bickered their way to their next class. On reaching her and Brooke's next lesson, the girls broke their bickering and Haley made her way to her French class; but not before poking her tongue out at her roommate.

"How immature!" Brooke claimed.

"Please, like you're one to talk." True to word, Brooke turned and poked her tongue out at the curly blonde.

They made their way to their seats in Business. Peyton could almost feel Brooke's guard go up as their classmates filed in. She sighed; _there is no getting around it._

This was the one class she looked forward to least every week. Her, Lucas and Brooke all in one class.

All seated at one table.

She hated it. She hated her best friend having to act careful and guarded around her. She missed the way they used to be. Always giggling, having fun, going crazy together…and yet at the same time they could have those meaningful conversations, tell each other anything, with a simple word or signal.

Now though, it was different.

Things looked the same on the surface, but to everyone but them it couldn't have been more obvious how much had changed. Sure they joked, had fun and still got crazy together.

But those meaningful conversations were less meaningful, signals no longer passed…and she hated say it but she had no idea what Brooke was thinking half the time.

They'd made their peace but they couldn't get back to how they were before.

Even talking about boys…_especially_ talking about boys, was a topic that was warily broached. Sure, Brooke would tell her if so and so was "yummy" or a "total hottie" but Peyton always got a sense that Brooke repressed certain thoughts. As though she was afraid to tell Peyton about how much she might truly like a guy as though afraid Peyton would swoop in and snatch him.

Seeing the broody blonde boy at the centre of their troubles walk in, Peyton frowned. _Not like I can blame her_.

She had vowed that she would win Brooke's trust back, no matter how long it took. Sometimes she'd see the way Brooke and Haley acted around each other and could almost find herself feeling jealous. They seemed to have an instant connection. _Or maybe it's because they're together so much… they do share a room after all._ It seemed sometimes that one knew what the other was going to say before they actually did. And she could tell sometimes when Brooke would nod her head slightly to Haley, or Haley would raise her eyebrow, maybe widen her eyes even and then Brooke would scrunch her nose or something…they had their own signals. Their relationship reminded her so much of her old relationship with Brooke, that she couldn't help but feel a little resentful.

Not towards Haley. Never that. She didn't think anyone could hate Haley; the girl was so awesome and sweet. And Peyton found that she clicked with Haley in her own way too. She'd notice Brooke look at them curiously sometimes when they were talking.

She'd often wondered if Brooke ever felt the same. A little resentful, a little jealous. And what of?

The thing Peyton was resentful over was herself. She loathed herself for what she had done. She single-handedly diminished any chance she had with Lucas while destroying a 10 year friendship.

_God, I'm so gonna be a dung beetle in my next life._

Still…even if Brooke couldn't confide in her, she at least had Haley. Peyton was glad for that. She was glad Haley came along…it seemed almost perfect timing. Maybe Haley was exactly what they needed, what she and Brooke would need to bridge the gap between them.

One could only hope.

"Peyton!" Brooke said louder snapping her out of her daze.

"Huh?"

"We've got to get started on this worksheet, but clearly you have better things to do." Brooke smiled at her, and Peyton smiled back all the while thinking how she didn't deserve such a good friend. She then noticed Lucas was already seated opposite Brooke, while Jake had taken the seat opposite her.

"I guess I just spaced out."

"To another time zone?" Brooke quipped.

"You looked liked you were in serious thought." Lucas added. She looked at him; _of course he would say that. It's like the damn guy can read me like a book._

"Of course she was." Jake piped up from next to him. "She was trying to picture me shirtless." He added with a serious face. "It's okay Peyt, totally understandable. Girls tend to get like that in my presence." He puffed his chest out smugly…

…and they burst out laughing.

_Jake Jagielski everyone_. Peyton chuckled. She was so glad when she first found out he was in this class with the three of them. If anyone could cut through tension with a well timed joke – it would be Jake.

There'd always been something calming about his presence to her. She'd noticed that in their group compared to the other guys.

For instance if she needed to talk, she'd go to Lucas. If she'd need someone to laugh with it would be Skills, if she needed someone to laugh _at_ she'd go to Tim, Mouth was her boogie buddy, and well Nathan…she just didn't go to him for anything _ever_.

But when she felt like ranting or just sitting there doing nothing, it would be Jake she turned to.

He'd sit there and listen – not judge, and then just stick a movie in and grab some ice cream. Eventually he'd make some cracks about whatever was happening on screen to cheer her up. And she adored him for that.

"You're so right Jake. I'm picturing those abs right now…" She sighed dreamily, exaggeratedly batting her eyelids.

"Hey, I'll have you know I work out five times a week."

"Yeah I can only imagine the intense work out you give that Xbox constantly."

"Oh no – you did not just bring my Xbox into this!"

They continued to banter playfully and Lucas smirked. It was plain as daylight to anyone that Jake had a thing for Peyton – except Peyton that is.

Jake had never actually discussed it with him, and it was obvious why he didn't. He'd always kind of known about Jake's crush; it was there in the back of his mind when he was pursuing her, but not something of consequence to him at the time.

Of course the consequences that came from him and Peyton put a lot of things into perspective.

Honestly he couldn't say if he went back in time, that he would change things. He was brought up to believe that things happened for a reason.

For example his father must've abandoned him for a reason. As crappy and horrible as the situation was on him as a child, it did happen for a reason. Seeing firsthand Nathan and Dan's relationship he'd realised that he probably dodged a bullet. Perhaps without an absentee father he would never have had such a special relationship with his mother. Or his Uncle Keith. Two people who meant more to him than he could describe in words. Or maybe it was so he could learn to not take things for granted, even the little things.

Of course that lesson had been reinforced with events of the recent past. The mess up he made with the two beautiful girls opposite him sure taught him a few things.

He learnt that Peyton was a special girl. She had true beauty and depth. And she deserved someone who would recognise that beauty and reach that depth. He originally thought _he_ was that guy.

Now he knew better.

He and Peyton had never began, yet there was so much potential there. There was a connection. But she had her own issues and rejected his advances.

Then Brooke happened. _Literally_. She stormed into his life without an ounce of hesitation, and changed it completely.

Everything was different with her. She had him out on a date, making-out and into her bed before he could even utter "er…ok"

Things started out fast with her, but further in they started slowing down. They started talking more, and not just about stupid meaningless things…about things that really mattered. He found he could actually take this relationship to a whole new level; find that connection again that he had been craving since Peyton.

He just didn't expect to actually reconnect with Peyton. She claimed she was ready for him, for _them_. But he was with Brooke. After her declaration Lucas could think of nothing else. He slowly rebuffed Brooke's efforts and found himself exchanging longing glances with Peyton. It wasn't that Brooke wasn't enough. Given the chance she would have been…it was that niggling voice in the back of his head. The one that would constantly remind him of what he and Peyton could have been. The potential they could have had.

That voice which kept telling him that he might be letting go of _the one_.

So what did he do?

He gave into temptation.

Difficult circumstances threw him and Peyton together at one point. One night in a hotel. They'd gone to ID a body, believed at the time to possibly be Larry Sawyer, Peyton's father.

It wasn't.

They returned to the hotel grateful…hopeful. Peyton then broke down, the emotional day having taken its toll on her. He tried to soothe her pain…one thing led to another and they almost had sex right there in the dingy hotel room. They hadn't gone all the way.

But he'd still betrayed his girlfriend. She'd betrayed her best friend.

And shamelessly it was only the first time.

They returned to Tree Hill, now both even more confused. Lucas was stuck between a passionate rebinding to Peyton and a fun, loving relationship with Brooke.

What he and Peyton did…it was wrong. It was betrayal and they had both unknowingly hurt the one person they cared about the most.

Lucas, still torn between the two received an intervention in the form of a car accident. After waking up in hospital, he decided that he was going to explore what could have been with Peyton. Life was too short to live in regret and with 'what-ifs'. He hadn't however been prepared for one thing.

_Brooke_.

It seemed all the girl could do was surprise him. She became nurturing and tended to his every need. Even when he broke up with her and insisted he needed to be alone right now. She claimed she understood…she would be his friend if that's what he needed.

Needless to say he was surprised. She didn't scream, she didn't fight it…she took it in a stride and simply visited to check up on him and help him out at home.

'_That's what friends do right?...Be there for each other' _

That was how she justified it.

One night he went to see Peyton. They'd been seeing each other in secret since his accident. They were taking things slow, on her bed, making out.

But I didn't seem right at all.

He would find himself running his hand through her hair, surprised to find it tangled in curls. Not glide through the straight hair he was expecting. He would look into her eyes, not seeing the green that was there, but the brown that should have been. He noticed her smile, frowning to himself when the dimples didn't appear. She had asked if he was ok.

He wasn't.

The voice that had been asking that same question for the past few weeks had a raspier edge to it.

It was then, in that bed, at that exact moment that Lucas Scott had his first and most important epiphany.

Peyton Sawyer was not the one.

How could she be? When all he thought about in her presence was that of her best friend's. When all he could picture on closing his eyes were those dimples flashing at him when he'd managed to make a half decent throw with a basketball.

He'd damaged his shoulder badly in the accident. Wasn't sure he'd play again. Yet, it was Brooke Davis who had been there to make sure he didn't give up.

Here was the girl, who unknowing to her, had been betrayed by him in the worst possible fashion. Not to mention he'd actually dumped her and used the whole 'lets be friends' line.

Yet…there she was.

Everyday she would be at his house helping out. At first it annoyed him. How was he supposed to sneak out to Peyton? Pretty soon, he got used to it…then he started liking it. He found himself enjoying her company, not that he didn't before. But she was clearly trying the whole 'friend' thing for the first time with a guy – with her ex-boyfriend. She didn't push his limits, or make any innuendo comments. She was just…there. To talk and listen. And suddenly he found himself talking about all kinds of things with her. And he listened to what she'd say. The sudden vulnerability in her character was beautiful to him and he began to see her in a way he never did when he was dating her. _Flawed_.

She wasn't perfect. Far from. And he found she did have insecurities in a lot more aspects than people would believe. She would share her ideas and ambitions with him casually as friends do. He found himself becoming intrigued with her thoughts, surprised by her passions, empty when she'd leave.

And of course, he being Lucas Scott, reached this epiphany in the whole Brooke/Peyton debacle when he was in Peyton's bed supposedly making out with her.

Once Peyton asked what was wrong, he realised he couldn't do this anymore. He claimed that this was all wrong, that they were hurting Brooke, that they had been betraying her since that night in the hotel. Peyton listened and surprised him by agreeing. She'd felt all twisted inside with what they were doing…had been doing for so long. Cheating on her best friend, betraying her in the worst possible way.

Lucas returned minutes later to go home. No doubt that Brooke would be there by now. She'd bring him a pick me up a la Brooke Style, everyday before lunch. When he got there he found her in his room already. He remembered asking her how she was and she sat silent. He looked to where her attention was directed, and he saw the computer screen. The window was open on Peyton's webcam…and the truth hit Lucas like a ton of bricks.

He looked at Brooke's face as she turned to him.

The pain and anger in her eyes combined still haunted him to this day.

'_Is it all true?'_

'_Brooke…'_

'_IS IT?!'_

He didn't know what to say. He simply nodded, the shame and regret clear in his eyes.

He watched as she composed herself, he could tell he guard was up as soon as he saw the blank expression on her face. The cold look of indifference, so different from the warm, smiling expression she'd treated him to the last few weeks.

She walked towards the door, straight past him. Once she'd opened the handle, she paused in the doorway.

Without turning around she spoke those words he'd never forget.

'_As far as I'm concerned…you're dead to me. _Both_ of you.'_

She then walked out of his room, and his life…for the time being.

Lucas zoned back into class, shaking his head as thoughts from the past continued to swirl in there. _What's done is done_. He couldn't change what had happened. But he does have control over the future, and he was going to get it right this time.

He didn't regret his time with Peyton; it had taught him a few things. He hated that that was the way it had to happen, but he couldn't change that now.

The only good thing that had come from his being with Peyton, was that he finally realised that he had fallen for Brooke.

Watching her out of the corner of his eye, he almost laughed at the cute sight of her. She was concentrating really hard on something he couldn't see on the paper in front of her. The cute part being the tiny bit of her tongue that was stuck out of her mouth as she was working.

_God this is the easy part Scott. Realising she's THE one. Now you've gotta face the hard part…convincing her _you're_ the one._

He knew he had a hard road ahead of him. He would have to regain her trust, her friendship…and her love. It would take time, and require taking a lot of chances to win her back, but he will not give up. It would be worth the wait.

And as the saying goes, the good things in life never come easy.

* * *

"So Nathan, I heard Bryan Cobe's having a party at his dorm tonight. You going?"

Haley rolled her eyes as the busty blonde flicked her glamorous locks over her shoulder, while shamelessly crossing her legs enough for her skirt to inch above mid-thigh.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

Sitting on the other side of him, Haley counted 'Busty' as being the fifth girl to hit on Nathan during class. Other contestants vying for the superstar's attention included, 'Giggly', 'Frisky', 'Leggy' and 'Slutty'.

_Geeze, it sounds like a twisted version of the seven dwarves. Of course these dwarves are hardly dwarves. More like runway models. Judging by the way the other girl's in class were staring in his direction, she could guess that she'd end up naming a lot more than seven runway-model dwarves._

"Well…just so you know, I'll be there."

_Why would he care?_ Seeing the way Nathan smirked at Busty, she stood corrected. _Of course he'd care. She's a shameless whore looking to get in his pants, and he…he's a 16 year old guy with raging hormones._

"And I'll be wearing something with easy access." Busty winked and sent another hair toss his way. And by the expression on Nathan's face he was loving the exchange.

_Probably imagining her naked right now_.

Sighing Haley turned to her worksheet. She didn't know why it bothered her at all really.

Liar. She knew exactly why.

After having a few near kisses with Nathan, not to mention the sudden tension that always surrounds them when they're near each other…she figured it meant something.

Well it did to _her_. Apparently, with Nathan a few near kisses are nothing. He gets sexual propositions every 15 minutes!

She'd heard about his status and his playboy charms that made him the big man around campus. And she'd even seen first hand the number of girls continuously flocking to him. But everything she heard and seen always clashed with the way he acted around her. She'd been in school about two and a half weeks now. She'd heard all the gossip on who's who. It kind of helped that she had Brooke Davis as a roommate, that girl seemed to have the whole school's business hardwired into her brain.

She'd gotten to know all the guys in the group pretty well. But with Nathan, it was different.

There was an instant attraction, on her side anyway. And there was the fact that they had so many classes together, where he always remained sitting by her side. Having had so many conversations as a result, she found it surprisingly easy to talk to him about all kinds of things, and soon she found herself joking around and laughing with him.

She remembered the first time she made him laugh. It was the week before. They were discussing her family, mainly her three brothers who Nathan was astonished to find played college ball at his dream university – Duke.

"_So do _you_ play ball?"_

_He seemed confused as to the sudden burst of laughter on her part._

"_Sorry, but if you really knew me, you'd never have to ask."_

_He chuckled, "You can't be that bad."_

"_Think again Scott. I'm the worst kind of basketball player there is – a straight no-nonsense, athletically challenged nerd." She nodded as though proud of her status. "I can watch the sport, but god I couldn't play to save my life."_

"_But…you have three brothers playing ball. You telling me they never taught you?"_

"_Oh…well they _tried_." She sheepishly admitted, "After the first two broken windows, and my neighbour's dog getting a banging, they gave up."_

"_Poor Sparky," she added mournfully, "he just never saw that bright orange fireball coming"_

_And he laughed. Not normal laughter, like full on. Not just from her lack of athletic ability, but more so from the tones and expressions as she'd recapture the memory._

Well all is not lost. Sure these other girls might get to actually attract Nathan's desire, but _she_ could make him laugh, she thought sarcastically.

_Dear god, how pathetic do I sound?_

She could practically hear Taylor screaming at her to quit being so sad and pitiful over a random guy. She'd probably ask her why she hadn't asked him out either.

But she had a fully loaded answer for why she couldn't.

Well there was Rachel for one. The redhead had made it clear time and time again that Haley was on her hit list, every time she ran into her and Nathan walking and talking in and out of class. As well as sending death rays her way, she was constantly pawing at Nathan, as though her personal groping sessions would be a sure way to get him back. Haley was glad to see that so far her efforts had been void, but that was not the only problem.

The second was that she was still in new territory here. She'd made good friends, and was getting along with the work fine. She wasn't sure if she was ready to rock the boat yet and dive right into a relationship, particularly with the most popular guy in the school.

Then there was also the problem that she wasn't sure Nathan would say yes anyway. They had had a few moments, but she wasn't so sure anymore. He seemed to have girls hanging all over him constantly – of all shapes, sizes, and hair colours. And none of them were _anything_ like her. Brazen, slutty, _very_ experienced in certain aspects she was sure. Not to mention they were all complete airheads.

No, she was pretty sure she was definitely not Nathan Scott's type. From what she'd heard, and mostly from Brooke, he didn't do smart girls. He was more of a vapid, plastic bimbo type.

_No wonder he's busy with her_. She watched from the corner of her eye as Busty made some more flirty passes at him, Nathan neither encouraging nor protesting at all. _You're in no way his type at all._

Before she could continue with her self pity, she felt something hit her back. Looking down, she frowned at the scrunched up ball of paper now lying beside her foot. She then noticed that the class had begun chattering away, it seemed as though the teacher had stepped out to get the homework sheets.

Turning to see where the paper had come from and saw a guy sitting one row behind on her left, looking directly at her. He was definitely hot by definition. In the tall, brown hair, green-eyed, Abercrombie model type way.

"This yours?" She asked, raising her hand holding the paper ball.

"Maybe."

"It either is or it isn't."

"Depends."

She raised an eyebrow. "On what?"

"If you'd be annoyed if I said yes"

"Well why shouldn't I be. Some random guy I don't know throws a paper ball at my back – wouldn't you be annoyed?"

"Well that depends." He smiled slightly as she gave a frustrated sigh.

"On what?"

"What if said random guy actually had a reason for throwing said paper ball at your back."

"And what would said reason be?" She held back a smirk.

"To get your attention." He said simply.

"And why would you want that?"

"Why wouldn't I? You're cute, funny, and smart."

"You think I'm cute?"

"Well I was going to say hot as hell… with killer legs, but I figured it'd sound less pervy."

"Well pervy sounds pretty good." She smirked at him. Bringing up the hand holding the paper ball she continued, "And you had to use this to get my attention. You couldn't just tell me?"

"Where'd be the fun in that?" He shrugged. "Besides, at least this way I get your full attention for an entire conversation before you turn me down."

"What makes you so sure I'll turn you down?"

The bell rang at that point. And she gathered up her things as did Abercrombie guy. She looked over to see Nathan surrounded by Busty, who'd just been joined by Frisky and Slutty.

She could hear Taylor's advice now. As though she was standing right next to her. _'I know he's hot and all Haley-bop. But there's no point waiting around for some player who's probably not interested. Heck, it'd be his loss but who cares right? There's plenty of hot guys out there that want you. Don't get stuck on one that might not even be worth it in the end.' Then her sister would give her the not so subtle reminder. __'Remember what happened the last time you gave yourself to a guy like that? See how that turned out? Are you sure you want to get hurt like that again?'_

It was true. One of the main reasons that she could barely admit to herself about Nathan, was that he reminded her a lot of he ex-boyfriend. The cocky, self-assured, extremely hot jock. A superstar among students, the big man on campus, the hotshot at the top of the popularity hierarchy.

She'd been attracted. He'd been flirty. She started dating him. He got really charming. She fell for him. He didn't 'do' feelings. She declared her love. And he stomped on her heart.

It was really hard back then. At Oak Lake, she at least had her life long friends to help her out. Here, she had the makings of great friendships, something that she didn't want to jeopardise. Especially if by some miracle she and Nathan did date, if it were to end horribly she couldn't take it if she lost all her friends too.

He stopped at her desk on his way out. There was no mistaking the full blown grin on his face now. "Is that a yes?"

'_There's plenty of hot guys out there that want you.'_

"It's a…maybe." She smiled.

"I can live with that. Especially if I got to see that smile."

"Be careful now. You might wanna save some of that charm for the next time you see me…"

"…Ryan. Ryan Saunders." He smiled making him much more handsome than he already was.

"I'm Haley James."

"I know." He smirked, though somehow it didn't quite compare to the one of the raven haired guy somewhere behind her.

"I'll see you around Haley James."

He picked up the scrunched paper ball, and gave her another gorgeous grin as he threw it in the trash on his way out.

_Hhmmm…maybe this won't be so bad. _

"Hey Haley" Nathan had sidled up next to her, having lost his groupies for the time being.

"Was that Ryan?"

"Yeah"

"Oh. What did he want?" She thought she could detect an edge to his voice.

"Nothing, just being friendly I guess."

He watched her carefully but her face remained neutral. He'd seen Ryan chatting to her for a while. He'd tried to catch the conversation but it was hard with that stupid blonde yammering in his ear the entire way through class.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he'd been surrounded by three of them as soon as the bell rang. He'd been hit on numerous times over the past week, and today alone by every slut in Tree Hill Academy.

Usually he'd have been ecstatic about that. But ever since he'd broken up with Rachel he'd promised himself he'd never go for a girl like that again. Except that every girl in THA seemed exactly the same – slutty, brainless, sex maniacs. _Seriously, its like a convention of Rachels_.

He shuddered at the thought. Yeah, before he would have totally gone or girls like that. But that was before Haley.

Before her, he'd thought all girls were pretty much like that, so the hotter the better really. Now that he'd actually met Haley and saw some actual depth to a girl…an extremely hot girl. One that could actually be gorgeous, and smart and funny and so many other things. He couldn't really settle for hot sex with a random stranger after that.

He'd been thinking about it the whole time the blonde had been trying to flirt with him in class. He'd decided that he'd give it time, and if it felt right then he'd take a chance with Haley. So far things had been going well between them and he didn't want to risk it. But he knew for sure, that now he knew a girl like Haley, he couldn't go back to meaningless sex night after night. Not when he knew there could be so much more out there for him.

"Ok, so where you off to now?" She didn't miss the swift change of subject.

Checking her schedule she realised she had a free period.

"I'm free."

"Me too"

"Well…I guess I'll probably go to the library,"

Nathan blanched, "Why?"

"I just wanted to get some of my assignments done. I need to free up my weekend, I was planning on going down to Oak Lake to meet up with a few of my old friends."

"Really? That's cool. But…do you have to do it in the library?"

"Well it's the best place for quiet studying. Besides, I'm a nerd remember, isn't it like my calling?" She joked causing him to smile.

"Alright, library it is."

"Oh, you're coming."

"Is that a problem?" He frowned.

"What? Er…no, no. I just figured with the first game next Monday, you'd want to practice."

Nathan and the rest of the boys had been playing every free period they had as well as having practice. So often in this free time they'd part ways as he headed to the courts, and she to the library.

"Yeah, well I think a break from that would be good for me right now." She nodded "So lead the way."

She noted that he didn't have a smug grin or smirk of any kind as he said that. And he stood rather awkwardly to the side as though giving her way to go first.

"Nathan…do you even know where the library is?"

"Of course I do!" He claimed indignantly. "It's er…by the…erm…somewhere over…near there…" He trailed off uselessly.

She couldn't help it. The fact that he had no idea where the library in his own school was, coupled with the extremely confused face he was wearing and the stammering – she burst out laughing.

"Ok yeah, laugh it up. Are you happy now that I look like an idiot?"

"Maybe just a little." She grinned at him, which automatically caused him to grin back. How could he not? Her smile was infectious.

"Come on, it's this way." She smirked at him. A smirk that could rival his own.

And she pulled it off _really_ well in his opinion.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys. Wow I think this is the quickest I've ever updated! It helped that yesterday I drank way too much coffee and couldn't get to sleep, so I ended up writing the next chapter up. The reviews that you guys have written are also really helpful, they're really motivational, so I want to thank you guys for those. I really am flattered, especially since this is my first fic.**

**Jess2303 - I know you want a kiss, and don't worry its coming soon! I just want to get some things out in the next couple of chapters, about some of the other characters. Like this chapter will be having some confrontation, and I also want to bring in some Jake and Mouth in the next couple of chapters. But I have a certain way I want the NH kiss to come about, where they definitely won't be so clueless. I really hope you can stick with me until then, and I hope I don't disappoint. **

**annazhx - Don't worry, that cheerleading uniform is coming out _very very _soon!**

**fallenhero57 - Your review was really flattering, thanks!**

**Thanks everyone else too! Please read and review this chapter too. )**

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* * *

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**Chapter 9**

"_Are you going to be something else I have to survive? 'Cause I'll tell you something; I'm not up for that." __**– Erin Brockavitch**_

_I can't believe this…_

Nathan looked around, feeling slightly surreal. He was sitting in the library. The _actual_ library.

People had been giving him odd looks since he first stepped in. Not that he could blame them. In all the years he'd been at THA, Nathan Scott had only been seen on the courts, or at the parties.

He never even stepped in the direction of the library.

Heck, he didn't even know where it was until today!

As the doors had opened and people turned, only to see _Nathan Scott_ enter…well chaos erupted.

Books dropped to the floor…pens stopped in mid-air…glasses were re-adjusted… one kid actually fell out of his seat. And Nathan was pretty sure the librarian fainted from shock.

Needless to say, with all the whispers and stares in his direction, he was feeling very uncomfortable.

_How did this even happen?!_

Turning to his side, he saw her. _Oh yeah._

Haley had wanted to come. And apparently that was enough reason for him. He had no idea what sprung this idea in his head but it was as if any excuse to spend time with her was good enough even if it meant stepping into the unknown.

He looked around curiously. _This place is weird…and stuffy. REALLY stuffy. How do people even get work done?_

Sighing he decided he might as well spend his time productively. He sat there watching Haley as she worked.

It wasn't hard to figure out why he would do anything to spend extra time with her. She was so genuine and down-to-earth. She didn't try to shamelessly flirt with him or constantly try to impress him either. She was just herself.

And she didn't let him get away with crap. The other day she even called him out on picking on Lucas!

He smirked. She was pretty damn awesome. And really pretty. _Really_ pretty…

She was concentrating really hard, biting on her lip as she was off in thought.

And then as though a sudden light goes off, she lets go of her lip and immediately starts writing on her page. Her pen moving smoothly across the paper in her neat penmanship, while her other hand moved to her face – pushing her bangs out of the way as she worked.

_Did I mention she's pretty?_ Beautiful even. Yep, at this moment while watching her working on algebra equations, in the library of all places, Nathan Scott decided Haley James was indeed a beautiful girl. Not utterly romantic – but hey, that's life. You can't exactly expect to figure this stuff out at the most opportune moments.

It just happens when it happens. For instance, when he realised that Haley James has the most perfect ass he'd ever seen.

It was actually on the way up to the library. They went up a spiral staircase, with her in front. Naturally, her ass was at his eye level…and he couldn't help it. He's a guy and it was right there taunting him.

He had to stop himself from actually grabbing it. He was now trying to contain the sudden images running through his mind.

_God…that girl has one hell of an ass. _

"Hey"

_Shit, did I say that out loud??_

"What did you get for question 4?"

She saw he hadn't even got his books out. Nathan just shrugged. He'd never liked calculus, mainly because he never got it.

"Aren't you going to do it?"

"No point."

"Why not?"

"Honestly? I haven't had a clue what we've been doing in calculus ever since I started the subject a year ago."

"So…you're failing?" She took his silence as a yes. "Well haven't the teachers tried to help?"

He shook his head.

"Do they say anything?"

"Nah. As long as I take us to the state championship, I can fail all I want." He felt really exposed here. She was amazingly intelligent, and here he was telling her how stupid he was.

Suddenly he felt really embarrassed. And that had never happened before. He usually didn't care what people thought of his academics. Most people didn't care.

Haley did.

"What about your parents?" Haley asked aghast.

Nathan snorted, "Yeah right. My dad doesn't give two shits about anything but basketball. My grades can suck but if I don't make that basket, I'm in for it." He ended bitterly.

Haley couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"And your mum?"

"She's never around" He replied vaguely. She didn't press it.

"So, how have you gotten through school so far?"

Nathan knew that was going to come up. He wasn't exactly proud of this, but he knew he couldn't lie to her.

"Well…most of my subjects are okay; I can pretty much get through. Just calculus, geometry – all that math stuff…er…mytutorsusallydoitforme."

Despite his efforts, she got exactly what he was saying.

"I can't believe this."

She looked shocked, and Nathan felt extremely guilty.

"Look Haley, I know it sounds bad-"

"Bad? It's _worse_!" At that the librarian looked over and shushed them.

"So the teachers all just let you off the hook because you play basketball?!" She shout-whispered.

"Yeah, pretty much. But it's not like anyone expects me to do well regardless."

"No Nathan this is unacceptable." She sounded stern. Nathan didn't know what to say, there was no point defending himself.

"Do the others know?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think so. Lucas might, but it's not like I'm gonna tell them. I'm not proud of it Haley…and it's not exactly easy to admit you're failing."

Haley looked at him clearly. He had the lost schoolboy expression on his face. He was ashamed of himself, she could tell that much. He had taken a leap of faith by telling her and she wasn't going to let him forget it. She wasn't angry at him in any way; she was pissed off at the so called schooling system here, and the lack of faith everyone seemed to have in him.

"It's not a big deal Haley." _God, you've done it Scott, she's going to hate you now!_

"Yes it is Nathan." She turned to him. "You may be an amazing basketball star, but that doesn't mean that your academic study should be tossed aside! It's just as important. God, what is wrong with the teaching here?"

Nathan blanched. "Wait, are you…you aren't mad at me?"

"What? No. Why would I be mad at you?"

"Well because, I cheat and don't work…" he trailed off lamely.

"No Nathan I'm not mad at you…though the cheating thing is really stupid. I'm just really pissed at the teachers here. And your dad." True to word she looked furious, "Nobody should make you feel like it's not possible for you to do well!"

Nathan sat there completely stumped as Haley went on. She ranted about how it was disgusting that people seem to think he was only worth how many baskets he scored. That education was just as important, if not more. What would happen if he could no longer play basketball? He'd need an education to fall back on. Were the teachers _that_ stupid not to have considered that?!

He found it so invigorating to have someone stick up for him like that. He'd never had that before either.

Plus she was furious. And angry Haley was really hot! She was venting on his behalf, and all he wanted to do was grab her face and crash his lips into hers, to show her just how much he appreciated her.

"That's it." Haley got up and instantly moved next to him.

"Er…what's it?" Nathan was startled. He shifted on his seat; the last thing she needed to see was the boner he'd suddenly acquired.

"If no one else is going to bother, then I will." She had a determined look in her eye. "I'll teach you."

_Whoa…well this is unexpected. _

Nathan was speechless.

And then…

"I appreciate the thought Haley, but-"

"No, no buts Nathan. I know it is hard to admit that you're failing. Especially to someone who barely knows you." He shrugged. "But you can easily turn this around. You're _not_ stupid…" She paused for a second, "…lazy maybe, but not stupid."

_Well I did say she was honest._

"Haley really, you shouldn't waste your time on me-"

"Stop thinking like that." She sounded so sure that Nathan felt compelled to listen. "Look, there's no such thing as a dumb person. At least, _I_ don't think so. People can be lazy or neglectful…but no person is stupid, and that includes you. It's not right that people have been making it okay for you to fail class as long as you can dunk balls. And I'm not downplaying how hard you work towards basketball…but that just proves my point. That when you're determined and willing to try, you can pretty amazing at something. And I think that if you put in the time and effort, you can be just as brilliant in your studies."

Nathan smirked, "You think I'm _amazing_ huh?"

Haley rolled her eyes, "I was talking about basketball genius. Figures you'd pick out that part of my so-called motivational speech."

Nathan's look suddenly became serious. "You really think I can do it?"

He hated to sound so vulnerable, but he couldn't help it. His academics were definitely a sore spot for him. His parents and teachers had given up on him in that area. And his friends never really cared much, probably because he acted like it wasn't a big deal.

But Haley was right, it _was _a big deal.

What if…_if_…basketball didn't work out? What would be left for him?

It was always such a foolproof plan that he never considered what would happen if it were to fail. Had his dad ever considered it?

"I _know _you can. You just need a little help." She smiled, "And lucky for you, I used to be one of the top tutors at my old school."

"Wow, you really are a geek." He teased and she slapped his arm.

"So, what do you think?"

Nathan sighed and looked her in the eye. He could tell she really just wanted to help him.

"Okay."

"Alright," Nathan almost laughed at the expression on her face. She looked like Christmas had come early.

As she began to make some notes that would hopefully make sense to him by the end of the session, Nathan realised just how close they were sitting. Her arm brushed his as she turned the page, and his skin tingled at the close contact.

_Man, if this is just arm contact…I wonder what it would happen if our lips met…or… if I was to move in and out of her-Shit! Cool it; you're in a friggin' tutor session now!_

That didn't help, his mind then conjured images of Haley in a tight school girl outfit, complete with the Britney Spears bunches.

_Okay, need to think of something else NOW!_

Haley was in serious mode and all set to help him out, and he was too busy trying to picture her naked and in various positions.

_Crap…think! _

Eventually it took thoughts of his Coach Whitey in the shower to cool down his thoughts. And then he was set to listen to her as she explained the basic rules of calculus.

And he found for once, he was willing to learn.

* * *

"You know, I really have no idea how to thank you."

"It's no big deal." She shrugged dismissively.

"No big deal?! Haley, I never thought I'd get this kind of stuff, and you had me doing exercises before the hour was up."

He looked so chuffed that Haley felt something inside her, a sort of fluttering.

They were on their way down from the library to catch lunch with the gang. They'd decided to meet up at the front doors, and then head out to a nearby café.

As they came out, other classes were emptying with students filing out.

"See I told you all you had to do was set your mind to it."

"Yeah, well you made it all so easy."

Before Haley could modestly shrug off his compliment, another voice rang out from behind him.

"She's definitely _easy _alright."

They turned to see none other than one conniving redhead.

Nathan rolled his eyes as Haley let out a frustrated sigh. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.

It was bad enough that Rachel took every opportunity to make her look bad in front of Nathan. But she'd recently taken to making comments in public for everyone to hear.

And there was only so much Haley could just ignore and let pass.

"Seriously Hannah, don't you think this is kind of pathetic. Following Nathan around everywhere. You'd think you go the hint by now. He's not gonna downgrade from someone like _me_ to some tramp who can't give it up."

Several sniggers went round at that. Some people just laughed straight out. She looked around at all their faces.

And Haley James had reached her limit.

"Okay, that's it." she cried out loud. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and listened.

She hadn't noticed either, but her new friends had all exited classrooms and were making their way to her from different directions. Peyton and Brooke looked furious, and Lucas and Jake were equally annoyed.

But on hearing her voice, they all stopped where they were.

"_First _of all, my name's HALEY! Not Holly, Heather, Hannah, or any other stupid-ass names you can possibly think up. It's just HAY-LEE, if you call me something it will be _that _got it?"

Nathan's eyebrows shot up, Brooke blanched, Peyton's eyes widened, Lucas, Jake and everyone else had varying degrees of shock filled expressions.

Feisty Haley was finally out in the open.

And she wasn't backing down.

"Second, honey – you're calling _me _pathetic. Last time I checked, _this_ guy," she pointed at Nathan but kept her eyes on Rachel, "dumped your sorry ass three weeks ago, and yet you're stalking him everyday practically _begging_ to get laid." People 'oooohed' at that.

"Apparently _you're_ not getting the hint…when a guy pushes you off him with a disgusted face that means he's just _not_ that into you sweetheart."

A lot of the student body began laughing and whispering then. Rachel was stunned into silence. _Who knew the new girl had guts? And attitude?_

"I know it must be hard, but I'm pretty sure there are other guys out there who might get off on getting some with a walking talking STD… which you so pride yourself on being." The laughter was much louder. People were actually cheering her on at this point. And Rachel began looking around self-consciously. She'd never been on the receiving end of such a tongue-lashing; usually she was the one giving them.

"But one thing's for sure," Haley continued, "Next time your plastic ass is cranky from not getting any, don't take it out on me; because I've had enough of your pointless shit. You understand?"

And with that she turned her back on Rachel and stalked off in the opposite direction. People making way for her as she went.

Behind her she left a now whooping crowd, outwardly laughing at the redhead in the centre, and a couple of friends who managed to share looks of surprise and admiration.

And one with a look of complete awe.

* * *

_I can't believe her!!_

Haley was still venting to herself as she walked away.

She had to admit that it felt great getting that off her chest. She only wished half the student body hadn't been there to witness it.

_Taylor will get a kick out of this_.

She'd spoken to her sister recently on the phone about the whole Rachel debacle/Nathan crush/friendships with Brooke, Peyton and everyone. And Taylor had told her vehemently to put this stupid whore in her place…among other things.

'_You'll end up keeping it all in and combusting one day Haley-bop'. _

She never thought she'd see the day when Taylor was right.

Weirdly though her sister was getting a lot of things right nowadays.

She was too busy in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps coming from a distance.

She was still in shock at what had just happened. She'd never been one to let people walk all over her. She'd grown up with six older siblings; she was raised to know how to hold her own.

She'd just wanted to fit in and not have to bitch-fight her way there. But Rachel just had to be _that_ annoying!

The footsteps finally reached her.

"Aaaah!!!"

_Figures Brooke would get to me first._

"Haley!" _And Peyton wouldn't be further behind_.

Haley stopped as they reached her, instantly collapsing onto her all the while hugging and squealing.

"That was fan-freaking-tastic!!" Brooke exclaimed as her and Peyton let go.

"Missy James, I so knew you had it in you!" Peyton grinned at her.

Haley blushed slightly.

"I know, I kind of blew up, and got really carried away-"

"Are you kidding?" Brooke interrupted. She linked one arm as Peyton did the other and they carried on walking. "That skank totally had it coming! I mean, it's lucky you totally tongue-bashed her. I was ready to come over and rip her goddamn fake hair out!"

"Yeah, besides everyone was waiting for you to retaliate. And god, did you make it _good_."

"Everyone?" Haley frowned.

"Yup, people were all making bets on when you were going to let rip." Brooke added casually.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" _I'm being bird watched and I don't even know!_

"It wasn't important." Brooke shrugged, "Besides if I did, there was a chance that you wouldn't have done what you just did. And that would have been a real shame." She laughed, "I swear I've never seen Rachel so embarrassed."

"You really caught her off guard." Peyton agreed, "And she deserved every word"

"You completely outbitched her!" Brooke giggled.

"That's good I guess."

"The best" Brooke nodded eagerly making Haley laugh.

They took a seat at one of the benches in the corridor.

"I just…I don't know what the hell her problem is." Haley told them. "I haven't done _anything_ to her, and yet she's been ragging on me since day one."

She noticed Brooke and Peyton share a look.

"What?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Brooke said.

"What's obvious?"

"She's jealous."

"Jealous? Jealous of what?!" Haley was puzzled.

"Of you and Nathan." Brooke pointed out.

"What me and Nathan?"

Brooke gave Peyton a look to explain.

"Okay, basically Haley, Rachel's jealous because Nathan ditched her ass, and likes you."

Despite the fact that her heartbeat increased at those words, Haley raised an eyebrow.

"Now you're just talking crazy."

"Nope, no crazy. At least not this." Brooke said, "Hotshot is totally into you."

"No he's not." Haley said firmly, even though a part of her was telling her to shut up and listen to them.

"And you're into him too." Brooke carried on, as though there was no question about it.

"Don't try and deny it." Peyton warned as Haley opened her mouth.

"I'm not going to, because there's nothing to deny." Haley said indignantly.

"You can't fool us," Brooke sing-songed.

"Really Brooke, there's nothing going on between me and-"

"Haley!"

"…Nathan" She finished as the raven haired guy himself ran up to them. Lucas and Jake right behind him.

"That was awesome!" Nathan said grinning like a maniac. Brooke and Peyton shared a look again with Haley who rolled her eyes at them.

"Seriously unexpected, but long overdue." Lucas agreed, the same grin slapped on his face as his brother's.

"Thanks," Haley said as Jake high-fived her.

"I say, we go out and celebrate," Jake said, "Patty's ice cream parlour anyone?"

"And here I thought you were gonna take us to a bar Jakey," Brooke claimed.

"Hey, you all know ice cream beats beer any day!" Jake said seriously causing everyone to laugh.

"Well we know _you_ certainly think so," Peyton poked at his stomach.

"What are you implying Sawyer?"

"Oh I think you know…Tubby." She smirked as Jake scoffed.

"Okay, before you two start your shit, how about we actually get going." Nathan ushered everyone out, placing himself next to Haley as they went. That encouraged another look from Brooke and Peyton, which she decided to ignore.

The whole way to the parlour, and while they got the ice cream, all everyone could talk about was the near catfight Haley just had.

Haley was surprised to see how proud they all were of her sticking up for herself.

"So how did it happen anyway?" Brooke asked, while taking a lick at her Strawberry Swirl. Haley didn't miss the heated look Lucas gave her then. _How can she miss it?_ It certainly wasn't the first time she'd caught him staring at her, and she knew it wouldn't be the last.

She had a feeling the other Scott was the one hiding his true feelings.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, me and only got there for Rachel's bitch-out and your solo, but how did it actually start?"

Everyone besides Nathan was interested to know. He had seen the whole thing with a front row seat.

"There wasn't really anything else to it." She didn't know what else to tell them. "Nathan and I had just come down from the library and Rachel made some comment about me being easy, and it went from there."

Everyone suddenly looked shocked.

"What?" She and Nathan share a confused look. Both clearly missed out on something.

They all shared surprised looks, and Lucas deciding to speak for the rest of them turned to Nathan. "_You_ were in the library?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "And what?"

"I didn't even think you knew where it was," Jake added.

Brooke snapped her attention at Haley, "How the hell did you manage to get Nathan Scott in the library?!"

"Damn, what is the big deal," Nathan interrupted feeling the need to defend himself, "is it so hard to believe that I would go to the library?"

"Yes" they all answered at once.

"What were you _doing_ there?" Peyton asked, still shocked.

"Calculus," both Haley and Nathan bit out defensively. They looked at each other in surprise and shared a quick smile before bringing their attention back. The other four seemed to be completely dumbfounded.

"You're shitting me" Lucas stated.

"God Haley, you must be some kind of miracle worker." Jake said, "To get Nathan not only to go to the library willingly, but you also make him do homework?"

"She's certainly doing something to him alright." Brooke muttered so only Haley could hear. The petite blonde's eyes flashed dangerously in her direction.

Nathan was about to do anything to change the subject when they were interrupted by an out of breath Mouth appearing next to their table.

"Is it true?!" He all but yelled, nobody missing the way his eyes darted to Haley.

"What are you talking about Mouth?" Brooke asked.

"I heard a rumour that Haley had a catfight with Rachel!" He sounded a little too eager.

"What?" Haley cried. "I didn't have a catfight… I just bitched at her."

They all chuckled remembering the scene.

"So…you didn't pull her hair?" Mouth asked.

"What? No!"

"Scratch her face?"

"No!"

"Bitchslap her repeatedly?" He asked hopefully.

"NO! Where did you hear this stuff?" Haley asked aghast.

Mouth looked almost disappointed as he sat down. "It's all around school that you guys had this massive fight by the lockers."

Haley sputtered, "What? How? But…everyone was there! We were outside the _library_ and there was no physical fighting."

Peyton spoke up, "It's high school Haley, stuff happens, rumours spread, and nearly all the time the true story's never heard." They all shrugged sympathetically.

"At least it isn't that bad," Nathan tried to cheer her up, "People still believe that you kicked her ass, not the other way round."

"That's something I guess." Haley nodded. _Well, there's no point getting upset about this. You made your bed James, now you have to lie in it._

Suddenly another person appeared at the table in the form of Skills.

"Yo dawgs! You'll never guess what I just heard!"

He looked at Haley, "Did you really have a catfight with Rachel?"

Everyone stifled laughs at the annoyed look on Haley's face. "Urgh no! I just _verbally_ attacked the skank."

"So…you didn't punch her on the nose?" He asked.

"I didn't touch her!" Came her irritated cry.

"Get her in a headlock?"

"I wouldn't even know how!"

"Shove her in the pool?"

"Pool?! What pool?"

Skills shrugged, "I heard it all went down by the pool in the sports yard."

At this point Haley just groaned as her head fell on the table. Nathan graciously decided to tell Skills exactly what happened and where as Skills took a seat next to Mouth.

"Thank god!" Skills exclaimed when he finished.

Lucas asked on everyone's behalf, "Er…why?"

"Would you wanna miss out on a hot girl catfight in a pool?" Skills reasoned.

"Point taken."

They all grin and Brooke assures Haley not to worry.

"It'll die down after a while and people will find something else to talk about."

"Well I hope its soon," Haley answered, "I don't wanna be known as some psycho freak that goes around viciously beating people I don't like."

"I don't think anyone could see you that way Haley," Lucas pointed out.

"Yeah, you'll be fine. As long as no one mentions it any more." Jake says and they all agree.

Suddenly one more person stops at the table.

"Hey peeps!" Tim shouts excitedly, "Did you hear?! Did it really happen?"

He looked at Nathan and Haley, not noticing the looks everyone was giving him to shut up.

But for the second time that day, Haley snapped, "Oh for the love of god! No! It didn't happen! I merely screamed at the girl. Sure, maybe I used some harsh words and it's no doubt she deserved them…but I didn't physically attack her damnit! There was _no_ hair-pulling slash face-scratching slash bitchslapping slash nose-punching slash head-locking slash pool-shoving slash my _wrists _if I have to go through this again!"

Finishing her tirade she turned to see everyone trying not to laugh.

"Oh, just go for it." And as she commanded everyone burst out laughing. Haley ended up joining in, it was hard not to.

Nathan could see the scared look on Tim's face, but honestly – Haley was a riot!

As it died down, everyone turned to Tim who'd cleared his throat.

Finally, albeit timidly he admitted, "_Actually _I was just gonna say, I heard a rumour that Nathan was seen in the library…doing calculus?!"

Silence.

And they all burst out laughing again.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know I've been MIA recently, but I just started uni here. Freshers lasted like 2 wks, so its been crazy-hectic with all the partying! Anyway, thanks so much to the people who are actually patient and sticking to this story. As promised - the 'Haley in a cheerleading uniform' debut takes place this chapter. I also wanted to bring in a little focus on Haley's old life - after all she went to a school before THA, and she left some old friends behind too. And I know some of you may kill me, but the kiss doesn't happen in this chapter...but it WILL be in the NEXT one!! So hopefully that'll keep you guys interested. Please, please read and review!! **

**(On a side note - who totally LOVED the way psycHO nanny got what she deserved last episode?? I know I did...)**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

_"What soberness conceals, drunkenness reveals." **–** **Unknown **_

"Hey Haley, did you get negative 3.5 for question 6?" Lucas asked from his seat next to her.

"Er…no, I got positive 0.5," she looked over at his work. "See you forgot to take over the negative 5 here, and it makes a quadratic equation-"

"Hang on a sec, you've lost me." Lucas was puzzled. "I don't think I have the notes for this method."

"Here," she handed over hers.

As he thanked her and copied them out, Haley took the opportunity to float off into her thoughts. She'd already finished the worksheet but pretended to continue doing it as she felt the stares in her direction.

People had been discussing nothing but the confrontation with Rachel for the past couple of days. It had been unnerving since everywhere she went people would stare and whisper. And they weren't exactly subtle about it.

Apparently though, her "catfight" with Rachel seemed to have earned her a lot of points with the guys in school. She seemed to be hunted down everywhere she went.

And she meant _hunted_. Some guys didn't seem to get the hint and followed her around, causing 'Feisty Haley' as Brooke put it, to make a reappearance. Though it did help whenever she went round with one of the guys – which was most of the time. Between Nathan, Lucas, Skills, Jake, Mouth and Tim, most guys tended to back off.

Her thoughts drifted to the actual night of the confrontation. They were at Patty's Ice Cream parlour for most of the night, laughing and joking around.

But the best part, for her anyway, was on the way back to the dorm rooms.

_Flashback:_

"_You know you guys didn't have to walk us back to our dorm room" Brooke remarked as the Scott brothers walked beside her and Haley._

_Everyone else had dispersed into their own directions back to their rooms. Since Nathan and Lucas' dorms were in the general area nearby Brooke and Haley's they'd graciously offered to tag along. _

"_You're welcome Brooke" Nathan rolled his eyes._

"_Hey, I was just saying. We're young, independent women. We can reach there on our own just fine."_

"_Well its late and dark, not to mention what kind of weirdo guys you could bump into…"_

"_Defeats the point if they're already tagging along with you," Brooke sniped back at him. Lucas and Haley looked on amused._

"_Jesus Brooke! Can't you just let anyone do a nice thing for you?" Nathan said frustrated._

"_Please, like you've ever done a nice thing for me in your life."_

"_What are you talking about? I'm nice! I'm a nice guy," Nathan sputtered._

"_Sure sure. I mean, the time when you pulled my pigtails in third grade…yeah that was nice. Or maybe the time in eighth grade when you told all the boys I had mono so that I didn't have a date to the Christmas Ball…that was _sweet_. Oh! And how could I forget that time you got me drunk and dared me to streak through the dorms – only to tape it and show the whole school in assembly the next day! Yeah, you're one _helluva _guy Nathan Scott!"_

"_Come on! Those were just harmless pranks. It's not like that time you convinced my parents I had given up basketball and joined the church choir in sixth grade? My dad almost killed me there and then. And I can't forget that time I was in hospital getting my appendix out and you spread round school that I was being treated for an STD! Or perhaps the time you stole my clothes after basketball practice while I was in the showers, and then had Whitey catch me with nothing but two basketballs covering me up?! And then -"_

"_Okay kids" Lucas interrupted. "How about we just play nice?" _

_Brooke and Nathan both snarled at one another. Nathan moving behind to walk with Lucas as Haley moved forward to pacify Brooke. _

"_You know it's not like we need them! We can easily walk back to our dorms just as safely by ourselves." _

_Haley knew Brooke wouldn't normally make such a big deal about this, but she had a feeling that being in such close quarters with Lucas caused her to react a little more…volatile than usual._

"_I know I know. But it's like a male thing. I read about it once, they have this heroic macho complex. They have this need to protect the females, and become like an alpha-male…or maybe that was about lions…" Brooke chuckled._

"_Okay H. James, whatever you say."_

_They carried on talking and walking back to the dorms. Somehow Nathan managed to end up next to Haley leaving Lucas and Brooke trailing behind._

"_So Brooke…" Lucas began._

"_Shhh!" She cried._

"_Er…okay," he looked confused._

"_Look," she indicated ahead._

_He watched as his brother and Haley talked…flirted even. That piqued his interest. He'd noticed how different Nathan had got around the petite blonde. He hadn't been kidding when he mentioned Nathan having a crush._

"_I've never seen him like this before." He commented. Brooke turned to him. Lucas continued, "I'm pretty sure he's crushing out on her."_

_Brooke laughed, "Omigod, I knew it! I thought I was the only one who'd noticed."_

"_Nope. The guys have all been talking about it…I think the only ones who have no idea are Haley and Nathan."_

"_God could they be more clueless?!" Brooke's eyes gleamed with excitement as she turned back to the couple before them. _

"_Look at that… how flirty can they get?" She whispered seeing how close the couple were._

"_Yeah, look at that," Lucas muttered not moving his gaze from the bubbly brunette. It was strange because she'd been willing to patch things with him and Peyton at the start of the year. _

_Yet, though she and Peyton were getting better. Brooke had pretty much avoided contact and conversation with him as much as possible ever since. The fact that she was cheerfully and willingly chatting away with him now was clearly a good sign. _

_Ahead of them, the other pair seemed to be getting along well._

"_I'm sorry about Rachel." Nathan said suddenly. _

"_It's not your fault. Besides…I think I can handle her."_

"_That much is obvious." He chuckled. "I don't think anyone has ever stood up to her that way…not even me." They had reached her and Brooke's dorm room and they turned to face one another. "You really did cream her Hales."_

_She looked up at that. _

"_Hales?" She raised an eyebrow as he shuffled a bit. Nervous was a new look on Nathan Scott._

_He ran a hand through his hair, slightly embarrassed. "It kinda slipped out."_

"_Well I kinda like it." She confessed. "No ones ever called me that before."_

"_Good." He smirked and he could have sworn her cheeks reddened ever so slightly. "And don't worry about school, this whole thing will blow over eventually and people will get over it. But if anyone does give you trouble, then let me know." _

"_Sure…thanks." _

_They stood there kind of awkwardly, staring at one another. Then she heard some whispering and turned to see Brooke and Lucas. She suddenly became embarrassed by the company. And it didn't help that the two of them looked like they had just been whispering about her and Nathan. She could spot that conspiring expression of her roommate's a mile away. _

_At that moment Brooke came over and practically dragged Haley into their room. As Nathan shouted a "Night Hales" just before the door closed._

_Haley prayed her roommate wouldn't start. Luckily Brooke seemed to just get ready for bed without comment. They changed in silence, and Haley got in between the sheets as Brooke turned off the light._

_As Brooke got settled, Haley was surprised but counted herself lucky nonetheless. She turned on her side, closing her eyes and slowly began to drift off…when…_

"_So, _Hales_ now is it?"_

_Haley's eyes opened to see a smirking Brooke on the opposite bed. _

So _close_!

"_Shut up" She muttered before facing away as Brooke giggled._

_End Of Flashback_

Hales. He'd called her Hales. No one had ever called her that.

She doubted that anyone else could say it the way he did.

"Hey Haley," Lucas broke through her thoughts. "Class is over."

He chuckled as she jerked out of her daydream. They collected their stuff when Mr Reynolds called Haley to hang back a few minutes.

"I'll wait outside" Lucas said.

"Sir you wanted to speak to me?" She said at his desk.

"Yes Miss James. I actually wanted to ask you something." She nodded.

"It is to my understanding that you have an excellent record…4.2 GPA…and that you were a recommended tutor in your old school."

"Yes," Haley was puzzled as to where this was going.

"Well I was wondering if you would consider a position in our tutoring program here. There are several students here that would greatly benefit from your experience."

"Really? You think I should do it?" She was getting excited at the idea. She'd always loved helping others out, working through subjects and getting their grades higher.

"I really do. Besides… if you managed to get Nathan Scott into the library, then you've got to be good."

Haley blanched at that.

"Sir, he's not as stupid as everyone seems to think."

The teacher was surprised to hear the sharp tone in her voice.

"I understand, and I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't. I still have to say well done, and I thought you should see this."

He pulled out a sheet from his folder and showed her.

It was Nathan's last piece of homework. It was graded…C+

"It's still not perfect. But considering I'm used to grading F for Mr Scott, this is an extreme step up. You really could help a lot of people Miss James. And I believe Nathan Scott could be one of those lucky ones."

She heard his words but couldn't tear her eyes from the sheet. _I knew he could do it._

She looked up. "I'll do it."

"Great." He proceeded to give her a form and pass to take to the tutor centre.

As she walked out Lucas congratulated her. Apparently he'd eavesdropped on the whole thing.

"Hey guys," Haley said as she and Lucas sat in the cafeteria.

"Hey Hales," Nathan said, which caused Brooke and Peyton who were also seated to raise their eyebrows at Haley, in an eerily similar fashion.

"What up dawgs," Skills and Mouth made their way over and sat down.

Pretty soon the gang started chatting away. Jake and Tim came after a while. Haley looked up in time to see the big smile adorning Peyton's face as Jake sat down beside her.

And it seemed he had her undivided attention from that point on. _How clueless can she get?_

At one point Lucas brought up how Mr Reynolds had offered her a place in the tutor centre. Everyone congratulated her. Brooke in particular seemed excited, _probably concocting the many new nicknames she can give me._

"Wait a minute…it won't collide with your _other_ activities will it?" Brooke asked. Haley and Peyton knew she was referring to cheerleading but nobody else did.

"What other activities?" Skills asked. _Gee thanks Brooke._

"Nothing. And no, it won't" She tried to subtly glare at Brooke who just shrugged and changed the subject.

"So who's keyed up for tonight's game?" Suddenly all the guys burst into conversation.

"There is no way Pickerington are gonna beat us." Mouth concluded, "We kicked their ass last season."

"Damn straight," Skills agreed, "They ain't got nothing on us!" All the guys pounded fists with such fierce looks that the girls found it hard not to laugh.

"Dudes that was lame," Peyton said as the other two nodded.

"Whatever." Nathan turned to Haley, "So you are coming to the game right?"

Of course she was, she was cheerleading after all. But that didn't mean she couldn't play with him a little.

"I dunno… what's in it for me?"

"You get to see me beat the crap out of the Pickerington Hicks." He smirked and everyone rolled their eyes around the table.

"They're called the hicks?"

"No but they should be." She laughed promising that she would most definitely be there and he grinned.

"Great… I'll look out for you." Haley blushed and neither noticed the rest of the table sharing meaningful looks.

Skills leaned over to Brooke, "How come they ain't together yet?"

Brooke shrugged, "Who knows."

* * *

"Okay girls, tonight is the first game of the season, and we're gonna cheer our butts off for our guys." Brooke marched up and down addressing all her cheerleaders at once. "Every move must be in place, and try not to mess it up." She directed her attention at Rachel who glared back.

"Right we're going to use cheer sequence number 5 and-"

"Brooke," Bevin cut her off.

"Yes,"

"Sequence 5 needs 10 girls."

"Well done Bev" Brooke said sarcastically. "What's your point?"

"There's only 9 of us."

"No, there's 10…" she trailed off searching through the room.

She walked over to Peyton "Where the hell is Haley?"

"I have no idea; she was right behind me before."

"Figures she'd chicken out." Rachel claimed from behind them.

"Back off!" Brooke snarled. She then told the girls to warm up while she went to get her, "Peyton you're in charge."

_Meanwhile…_

The missing girl herself was currently in the girls' bathroom…freaking out.

"I really don't think I can do this!" She panicked, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hey sugar calm down!" The voice shouted back.

"But Alice-"

"Haley, do me a favour, just shut up and breathe."

Haley did as instructed.

"Alright…that's it…breathe…" Alice sighed, "Now what's the problem?"

"The problem? The problem is that in mere seconds, I'm supposed to be out there in that overpopulated gym, and bend, flip and twirl away in an extremely tight and _way_ too flashy uniform, all while holding some big ass pompoms…and there is no way I'll be able to remember all the moves, let alone get through the entire sequence without tripping over and flying into a wall!"

"Got that out of your system girlie?"

Haley sighed, "I think so…but I'm still panicking."

"Look Haley J." She smiled at the familiar name. "I know this is new and scary for you. But sweetie, I've known you for almost your entire life. And you've _never_ failed in anything you've done."

"Well there's a first time for everything."

"Not for you and not in this." Alice replied firmly. "You're not going to make a fool of yourself because I know you, and you put your all into everything you do. You _can_ do this…okay?"

"Okay." Haley sighed.

"Right. Glad I could help." Haley could practically hear her beaming down the phone. It was usually the other way round, Haley calming Alice…so she was well psyched at being the helper for the first time.

"Oh and hun…" She added, "Don't wait so long to come visit next time."

"I won't," Haley smiled remembering her weekend with her old friends.

"And maybe next time you could be bring that hottie of yours too."

"Alice!"

"Ok bye!" She hung up.

Haley shook her head at the phone.

She really had enjoyed her time back in Oak Lake over the weekend. It wasn't that far from Tree Hill. And meeting up with the old gang was refreshing, especially with the rumours still circulating the school about her and Rachel.

Her Oak Lake friends consisted of two guys and two girls. The guys being Fergie and Chase, who had to be the coolest most laidback guys she ever met. They weren't like the usual teenage pigs you'd get at a high school. They'd become friends through their love for skateboarding and funny pranks. She and the girls always had to watch their backs around them.

The girls were Alice and Sophia. Alice had been her best friend since diapers, and they met Sophia in elementary school. The three of them would hang out constantly. Haley felt that was why she fit in with Brooke and Peyton perfectly. Their trio was a lot like the one she had back at Oak Lake. Alice was similar to Brooke in an upbeat, bubbly cheerleader way. She also loved shopping and boys. Sophia was the stronger but more silent type. She didn't cheerlead like Haley, since neither of them could stand the squad. They both shared musical talent - where Haley could play guitar and piano, Sophia played violin and was currently learning the guitar. She had been really excited to show Haley how far she'd got with it in her absence.

Together all five of them would balance each other out. They had lots of fun and got along great. Haley and Alice were even glad to find out that Chase and Sophia had a thing for each other, and started going out in the first year of high school.

Haley saw for herself over the weekend that they were still going strong. She was happy for them. Fergie had apparently been eyeing a girl; some cheerleader that Alice had told her was actually quite sweet. Alice herself was playing the field…some things never changed.

Though Alice had got a kick out of Haley's crushing out on Nathan Scott. She'd remembered him from a few games, and felt Haley had scored herself the ideal hottie. Haley had of course tried to explain that there was nothing going on between the two of them, but Alice was as bad as Brooke when it came to gossip.

She didn't realise how much she missed them until she'd visited. She'd gotten through a lot of tough times with her old gang, namely one ex-boyfriend she hated to mention.

The guys had promised though that they would still keep in touch. Visits were going to happen both ways. She still phoned them all, Fergie would email her and Chase was trying out the whole webcam thing. She'd had a video conversation with him as soon as she got back.

_Well, enough of this, its show time!_

She walked out of the girls' bath rooms only to run right into Brooke.

"H. James, there you are!"

"Here I am"

"You're not bailing out are you?" Brooke said sternly.

"No, I wouldn't do that to you Tigger. Just had a minor panic attack."

"Well don't cause you've got nothing to worry about." And they walked back to the changing rooms all the while Brooke telling her how 'totally bitchin' she looked in the cheer uniform.

* * *

"Alright boys, warm up!" Coach Whitey had all of them on court throwing balls around waiting for the game to start.

"Yo look at them Hicks." Skills indicated the opposing team who were warming up in their own corner. They had aggressive stances, obviously trying to be intimidating.

"Please that's complete bull." Jake commented.

Everyone knew that Pickerington would try to act out all tough, but when it came to playing the game, they had nothing on the Ravens.

"Yo, we gonna beat their asses," Tim cried passing the ball to Lucas, who passed it onto Jake.

They continued this way until the boys noticed that Nathan was getting a little distracted. He seemed to be trying to look all over the gym at once, peering at the stands in particular.

"Hey, what's up with him?" Jake asked Lucas as Nathan almost missed a ball from Skills.

"I dunno." He was following Nathan's eye line but it was all over the place. And he didn't understand the look of disappointment.

"Hey dawgs, check out the cheerleaders." Skills nodded.

Lucas, Jake and Tim all turned and were shocked by what they saw.

"I guess her 'other activities' just became public," Skills commented.

Lucas looked back at his brother who was still peering intently around the gym. It suddenly clicked and he smirked. He grabbed the ball from Tim and threw it to Nathan who was completely unfocused from the warm ups.

"Aaah! What the hell?!" Nathan felt the ball bang the back of his head.

"What was that for?" He yelled at Lucas who just continued smirking.

"Hey it's not my problem your eyes weren't on the ball." Lucas shrugged as the other guys looked on. "Maybe if you weren't busy fantasizing about Haley you might have noticed a big ass ball aiming for your head."

The guys all snickered as Nathan glared.

"I wasn't-"

"Dude, don't even try and deny it." Jake shook his head.

"Yeah well noticed you been lookin' round the gym pretty hard…wonder why that could be." Skills grinned.

"It's almost like he's looking for something." Lucas conspired with the guys blatantly in front of Nathan, who was looking less amused each second.

"Or someone…" Tim smirked.

_Busted. _Nathan could deny it all he wanted but he knew they wouldn't believe him. _You know things are bad when Tim of all people is smirking at you._

_And who the hell said they could all stand there and smirk at me?_

_I invented that goddamn smirk!!_

"Whatever… can we actually warm up? In case you guys hadn't noticed we've got a game to play."

"Oh we know… you're the one that was unfocused." Lucas pointed out.

"Yep, and in case _you_ haven't noticed Nate," Skills grinned, "You're looking in the wrong place dawg."

"What are you talking about?"

"Haley's here you know."

"What? Where?" Nathan didn't even try and play it cool. The guys laughed.

"Try behind you."

Nathan turned and saw the cheerleaders. _What? Why would she be-? _

His eyes widened.

_Oh my god._

Haley James was at the game alright. She was even in uniform.

A _cheer_ uniform to be precise.

Meaning she was wearing a tight top showing off her flat stomach, with a teeny-tiny skirt showcasing those awesome legs of hers.

And she would be screaming _his_ name out from the sidelines… cheering him on to win the game.

"Damn, she looks fine" Skills mentioned from one side of Nathan.

"_Really _fine." Lucas said.

"Totally hot," Tim piped up.

"Smokin'" Jake added.

"Will you all shut the fuck up!" Nathan warned before heading in her direction leaving the guys laughing and high-fiving each other.

Brooke and Peyton noticed the raven-haired boy heading their way and casually edged away from Haley, giving them some privacy.

"Now this I didn't see coming." Haley started at the deep husky voice from behind her.

"Oh hey," she turned only to find him towering over her. Smirk in place. "Yeah, well…this is just for Brooke. She was…er…stuck, and she asked…and you know, I couldn't leave her hanging…erm…"

She trailed off awkwardly. Truth was, the way Nathan was looking at her had her all tied up in knots. He had her stuttering.

He was blatantly checking her out. His eyes travelling over every perfect curve of her body, nicely displayed by the tight material of her uniform.

_Damn those sexy-as-hell legs!_ His eyes clearly raked with lust, were taking in every inch of uncovered flesh.

Haley was getting seriously hot! She felt so exposed under his unwavering gaze… yet at the same time she felt alive. She had never had someone look at her with such desire before. And she was in serious danger of jumping him right there and then.

_Damn him from looking so sexy!_ She could definitely see why everyone's eyes were on Nathan Scott during a game. The basketball uniform did wonders for his physique. She could see every bulging muscle in his biceps, and she could only imagine what his abs looked like… _okay, stop before you end up drooling!_

"Damn James this is not gonna be good for my game…" he commented. "How the hell am I supposed to concentrate on the ball when you're gonna be here looking all kinds of sexy?"

Haley blushed. There was no question about it this time; Nathan was definitely flirting with her.

"Well guess you'll have to find a way…since everyone's expecting you to win."

Nathan smirks, as the coach calls him over.

"Good luck," Haley says.

"I don't need it Hales, I'm a Scott…" looking over his shoulder the game was about to start. He quickly added, "…but I could do with a little incentive."

He moves closer to her and Haley gets flustered which he enjoys.

"How about a victory kiss?" He suggests in a husky tone.

He was being very forward. More so than Haley was used to with him. And she knew he was loving the reaction he was getting from her. _Damn my blushing! Why can't I ever keep it cool?_

Wanting to wipe that sexy-as-hell but also really annoying smirk off his face she decided two could play that game.

She moved right up close to him, catching him off guard. She trailed her arms up his chest, with one hand remaining there while the other caught hold of his neck. And slowly, she leaned forward…

Nathan licked his dry lips, and closed his eyes anticipating what was to come…

…when he felt her hot breath by his ear and the words "Maybe after the game". He opened his eyes only to see her smirk and make her way back to the cheerleaders.

"Scott! Stop trying to get lucky and get your damn ass back here!" Whitey screamed shaking Nathan out of his stupor.

Smiling like a goof he ran back to the team, ignoring the looks the guys were all giving him…ready to play his best game yet.

"What was that?" Brooke asked.

"What was what?" Haley played dumb.

"Don't act all innocent Haley, we saw you practically throw yourself on Nathan," Peyton smirked.

"Right…that was after all the hot flirting and _leering_ you guys were doing." Brooke kinked her eyebrow.

"It wasn't like that…it wasn't like anything." Haley lied.

"Whatever New Girl, you can play dumb all you want but we know better."

"Haley was that Nathan flirting with you?" Bevin giggled her way over.

"Er-"

"Yeah the hottie Scott was totally checking you out!" Faye, another cheerleader added.

"Well-"

"Not like you can blame him," Anna sing-songed while checking her nails.

Seeing Haley uncomfortable again, Peyton jumped in, "Well according to Haley herself, it was _nothing_."

"Didn't look like nothing," Rachel snorted to which she got three glares.

The whistle sounded and the game began, for which Haley was thankful as the girls all got into the cheering instead of grilling her. Surprisingly, Haley found that she managed to get through all the moves without any problems. _Yay, go me!_

Unsurprisingly the game ended with Ravens winning 15 points in the lead.

According to Mouth, Nathan had played one of his best games ever…everyone wondering what could be the possible cause for that. Brooke and Peyton however knew better, eyeing the petite blonde cheering in between them.

Everyone ran to the middle to congratulate the team. Haley managed to hug each of the guys, Lucas, Skills, Jake and Tim. She high-fived Mouth while noticing Brooke and Lucas having jumped into each others arms in the moment, only to awkwardly shrug it off.

Hearing someone clear their throat behind her, she turned to see the guy who'd been invading her thoughts recently.

"Well done Nathan!" She hugged him, which he returned happily.

"You did a great job" she almost whispered, the close contact throwing her off.

"I had some help," he shrugged.

When she drew away he didn't let her out of his arms. Everyone was too distracted to notice the way they were looking at each other.

"So now that the Ravens won, I believe you owe me something."

_Well he doesn't miss a beat._

"And what's that?" She played dumb for the second time.

"A victory kiss," he answered, grinning all the while.

"Oh yeah…that." She grinned coyly.

Leaning up she aimed for his lips…only to bypass them and leave a soft kiss on his cheek.

She was teasing him. He knew it and couldn't help but chuckle despite his disappointment.

"Trust me James; one of these days…I'll have those lips of yours." He promised.

"Until then Scott." Haley winked and went back to the celebration. Nathan realised then that he had never been in such a position where he wanted a girl _so_ much before.

* * *

"Where the hell is Mouth?" Brooke shouted over the loud music in the club. The entire gang had decided to head out to celebrate.

Currently Lucas, Jake and Tim were at the bar where Haley and Brooke were making their way to. They'd just left Peyton and Skills who were still dancing out on the floor. Nathan was taking a phone call outside and Mouth…was nowhere to be seen.

"You know this disappearing act of his is really getting old." Brooke huffed as they reached the guys.

"You wouldn't be talking about Mouth?" Jake asked. She nodded. "Yeah I don't know what's up with him, but he totally bailed on the courts with us yesterday."

"And I was walking with him to class the other day. Turned my head for a second and he was gone," Lucas said, "didn't even show up to class later either."

"Yeah, he ran out on me in cheer practice, and now he's gone off to who knows where?" Brooke sighed.

"Mouth…a mystery. Who knew?" Jake added before ordering another beer.

"Whoa take it easy there dude," Lucas said pointedly, sharing a knowing look with Jake.

"It's only my second Luke, its fine" He replied. No one else getting the hidden message passing between them.

"Hey is that Nate?" Tim said looking off somewhere.

They all turned to see a clearly pissed off Nathan sit at the other side of the bar yelling at the bartender to get him a drink.

"What's wrong with him?" Haley asked. They'd just won their first game of the season, _shouldn't he be happy?_

"He's probably just got his phone call from Dan." Lucas explained.

"His dad" Haley nodded understanding. Lucas had told her about their dad beforehand.

Dan Scott was apparently a horrid man, who'd abandoned one son – being Lucas, and raised the other under extreme pressure to become the next NBA star. Considering his own NBA dreams failed, Lucas had told Haley that he practically lives through Nathan, forcing him to up his game constantly, constantly criticising or demeaning him, and only ever demanding perfect results. Anything less makes Nathan a failure in his eyes.

Haley hated that someone could act so cruelly to their child, and seeing Nathan down drink after drink, she could only guess what nasty comments Dan had said to him.

The guys explained that it was best to leave him to cool off after Dan's phone call. Everyone went either on the dance floor or back to drinking. Brooke dragged Haley to dance, but halfway through the third song she caught sight of Nathan still drinking at the bar and decided to head over.

Telling Brooke she was getting a drink, she walked over to Nathan only to find him yelling at the bartender for more.

"Nathan?" she interrupted.

He turned and squinted at her awkwardly. It was clear he was drunk.

"Haley!" He exclaimed once he realised who she was. "Hey girl! Pull up a s-seat. Drinkss on me!" He patted the stool next to him.

Haley looked at the bartender.

"Look, you need to get your friend out of here; I'm not going to give him anymore. He's too drunk."

Haley nodded and looked around. She couldn't spot any of the guys around. Nathan was now yelling at the bartender's back. She pulled out her phone and tried calling Lucas but it went to voicemail.

_Well of course he's not gonna hear it. We're in a friggin night club!!_

Sighing she looked over at Nathan, _looks like you're on your own James_.

"Come on Nathan, we've gotta go," She nudges his shoulder.

"What? No, we haven't had drinks yet!"

"Actually, you've had way too many drinks Scott." Haley smiled at him. "They're not gonna give you anymore, so we should just go back to the dorms." She said gently.

"No Haley – _you_ go. They're all asses here anyway. I'm gonna go find some other bar…where the service isn't so shit!" He shouted the last part at the bartender.

As he got off the stool he stumbled slightly and Haley rushed forward to hold him up. Looking around she still couldn't see Lucas, Jake or anyone else for that matter.

"Come on Boozy; let's get you out of here." He leaned into her scowling about the assholes as they made their way out.

He whined all the way to the parking lot, while Haley struggled to keep hold of his large frame.

When they finally made it to his car, Haley realised it had been quiet. She turned and almost jumped to find Nathan's face less than an inch from hers. He was staring intently at her face.

Before she could say anything a smile stretched over his face. He looked like a right goof, yet she found it adorable.

"Right," she cleared her throat, reminding herself that he was drunk. "Where are the keys?"

He rustled away in his pocket while Haley still held him up. Pulling them out he turned to Haley gleefully, "found them!"

"Great…now hand them over."

And just like that his smile dropped. "Nuh-uh,"

"Yes, Nathan give me your car keys." She reached for them but he pulled his hand away.

"Nathan," she said sternly.

"Haaalless," he slurred back.

"You can't drive like this…and if you don't give me your keys right now, I _will_ take you down." She said completely serious.

"Pfffttt…come on Haless," He smirked lopsidedly. "You can't take m-me. I'm _Nathan _Scott!"

"And that makes you invincible?" She reached for the keys again and he pulled back more.

"Yup," he grinned.

"Okay _Nathan _Scott." Haley said sarcastically, "How about this." And before Nathan knew what had hit him, she grabbed his ear and twisted it back as hard as she could.

"Holy Fuck that hurts!!" He yelled in pain causing him to drop the keys. Haley wasted no time in swooping down and grabbing them then opening the car door and shoving him in.

She got into the driver's seat next to a whiny Nathan, who was cursing at the amount of pain he was in.

"Shit, what the hell was that for??" He rubbed act his reddened ear and shot her the worst glare he could muster at that point. She couldn't deny it stung a little to have him look that way at her.

"Well you could've just given me the keys and then I wouldn't have had to do that."

His head snapped up and he looked at her hands to see his car keys.

"No! Nuh-uh, you can't drive my baby!" He shook his head trying to grab them back.

"Great another car fanatic. Why do you men always label your cars 'baby' or 'honey' or any other girly pronoun. I mean all cars can't be girls, and even if they are…it's kind of derogatory referring to them that way."

The blank and confused look on Nathan's face told her he took none of that in whatsoever.

"You're not touching her," he stated bluntly. And again he made for the keys. They continued that way for several minutes as he tried to wrestle them from her, and Haley for one was getting tired of it.

"Look!" she yelled suddenly halting his actions. "It doesn't matter what you do I _am_ driving your baby whether you like it or not. And you can either sit there and accept it, or carry on trying get your keys off me – which will not work since you're too drunk to even focus straight; so all you'll be getting is a black eye and a pissed off driver. And _if_ you get me pissed then just for fun, I'll start speeding your goddamn precious baby _and_ play corny country music out loud till your head explodes!"

Seeing she meant business Nathan skulked back into his seat, with a moody look and a pout that could rival Victoria Beckham's.

"Good, now let's get going." She put the car into ignition and reversed out of the lot. There was silence for a couple of minutes. She then noticed Nathan rub his ear from the corner of her eye. "Does it still hurt?" She felt a little guilty now.

He immediately dropped his hand, folding his arms and shrugged in response. Haley rolled her eyes, _men; always have to be so macho._

She sighed, "I'm sorry." He didn't say anything, his pout still firmly in place.

"What about your head?" She figured his head was probably pounding by now.

He shrugged again. His stance reminded Haley of a young child who'd just been told off after throwing a tantrum.

"Are you gonna talk at all?"

"Are you gonna pull my ear again?" he asked sulkily.

_Boy, drunk Nathan is really moody._

"No" She decided to switch points, try and sober him up. "So your dad called?"

"Yeah, fuckin' prick can't leave me alone for a second!" He muttered.

_Okay Haley wrong subject – say something else!_

"You know, you did play really well today-"

"Try telling that to my dad! Stupid Dan! What the hell is his…his problem anyway? Its like he has to live vic-…vicir-…alsy…" he was extremely irritated at not being able to find the right word.

_The side-effects of drunkenness._ Haley shook her head as he continued.

"Vicariously?" She suggested, having grasped what he was trying to say.

"That's it!" he practically bellowed causing her to wince. "He has to live vicariously through me! Who the hell does that?"

And he ranted drunkenly like that the whole way back. _And_ as they went up the stairs, _and_ as they walked down the corridors._ And_ as she took him into his room, _and_ pushed him on his bed.

And finally she snapped.

"Alright just shut up!" He stopped mid-sentence. Haley knew she was probably being harsh but enough was enough! Even when her brothers were drunk, they weren't this bad.

"I get it. You have major daddy issues; your dad's a prick yada yada yada. Just quit bitching!" She missed the change in his expression. She was too busy ranting; after all he'd had his turn. "I know I have no idea how bad he is or whatever. But do you really think that going out and getting drunk is the solution?!

"You say you don't let him get to you but its clear_ that's_ bullshit!" His eyes widened, "One phone call from him and your stuck with me dragging your depressed and drunken ass all the way back to your room. And how drowning your sorrows is supposed to help, I'll never know. Does drinking yourself into a stupor make your dad any less of an ass? NO! So get over it and deal with it like a mature person not a mindless buffoon!"

To be honest, she'd never be this unsympathetic normally. But her arm was killing her from having to support his tall, muscled self the whole way up. Not to mention the fight he put up with her over driving his car. Hearing him rant about his horrid father through the whole journey _and_ the way up to his room hadn't lightened her mood any either.

There was only so much she could take!

And she was also banking on the fact that he wouldn't remember much of this tomorrow. Or she hoped he wouldn't.

She stood there in front of him, hands on her hips, cheeks tinged pink from her rant, eyes fuming. Not forgetting she was wearing a halter and tight leather pants combo courtesy of Brooke, with her loose waves and natural make-up.

Even drunk Nathan only had one thought.

"You're so hot." He stated bluntly.

"Exac-wait what?"

"We should hook up."

"Huh?!" Haley seriously thought she must have been hearing things.

Nathan stood up and stripped off his shirt, leaving Haley facing his bare chest. _Whoa_. _Man he has muscles everywhere…_ Haley was seconds away from drooling at the sight before her. He had a sculpted chest that was screaming for her to run her hands all over it.

At that point he stumbled and she went forward to catch him.

_Oh dear god._ Now she literally was running her hands over him.

"The way I see it." Nathan stated as she held him up again. "You're hot. I'm hot. So we should have sex."

"Nathan you're drunk, and you have no idea what you're saying."

She pushed him hard back onto his bed. Only he hadn't let her go.

"Oof!" She landed directly on top of him, Nathan not even trying to hide his obvious arousal at this point.

Her hands on his naked chest, his arms round her waist, with her body lying atop his. This was the stuff of her fantasies. All she had to do was lean down and give in to his drunken commands…and in this position it was getting _really_ hard not to.

"Now you're talking," Nathan leered down at her breasts which were pushed against his chest, causing them to push further out of her top.

And there it was. Her good sense knocking her over the head, and telling her to get the heck out of this predicament before something happened she couldn't take back.

"Down boy," she mustered her sternest tone, or tried to. She then managed to grip his arms and throw them off a little too forcefully, "Whoa, you like it rough… my kinda girl." He grinned smarmily.

She rolled right off and stood up. He then went on to kick his trousers off and Haley felt the strange need to turn around. "Come on Haless…come join me." He patted the bed space next to him.

At that second her phone suddenly went off and she thanked the gods for it. She watched as Nathan carried on bouncing on the bed, and turned her back as she answered. Staring at his perfect body wasn't going to help her be coherent.

"Hello Haley?" _God bless Brooke Davis!_

"Brooke, where's Lucas?"

"Lucas? He's right here, where the heck are you?"

"I'm in Nathan's dorm room, he was drunk and out of it. And I tried looking for you guys but no one was there, and he was going to drive off somewhere. Anyway, can you tell Lucas he's in his room…but I'm guessing he's not gonna feel so good in the morning."

"O-kay. Gimme a sec." Haley waited as Brooke no doubt told Lucas to get there.

"Alright Haley, me and Lucas are on our way. Just hang on and Lucas will come take him off your hands."

"See you in a bit then." And she hung up the phone.

She turned to the bed only to be surprised at finding Nathan having fallen asleep. _Awww he looks so adorable, _she felt her previous frustration ebb away.

She quickly went to get a bucket to place by the side of his bed. Seeing his face, he looked so peaceful lying there. She realised that he was completely uncovered and went to place a blanket over him. He stirred slightly and coughed. She made her way to the door figuring she could wait outside, when his voice stopped her.

"Haley?" It was groggy and on turning she could see he hadn't even opened his eyes. "You still there?"

"Er…yeah, I'm here." She moved closer to the bed.

"Am I bad person?" He asked, eyes still closed. She didn't miss the vulnerability in his voice though.

Her heart melted at that. He sounded like a sad, lost little boy. She sat beside the bed as his eyes opened. "Am I bad person for hating my dad?"

She ran a hand through his hair and he closed his eyes again. "No Nathan. That doesn't make you a bad person."

She continued running her fingers through his hair softly seeing it soothe him. His facial expression completely relaxed, and she guessed he was close to falling asleep.

She removed her hand and got up as he yawned. She smiled.

And then he said it.

"I _really_ like you Haley James…"


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Guess who's back? :D yep its me! I finally got over exams and writers block. Hope you guys enjoy!**

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**Chapter 11**

"_Because the things you're afraid of are usually the most worthwhile." __**– Chasing Liberty**_

"So we definitely on for the movies after practice?" Brooke inquired as she and the girls stood up from the bench.

"Sure thing Brooke." Jake said as the girls nodded and said their goodbyes.

Haley in particular avoided all eye contact with the deep blue pools that were practically begging her to look their way. As the girls moved off Nathan sighed and dropped his head on the table.

"Something the matter Nate?" Skills smirked.

"Shut up." He mumbled.

It had been a week since the first game – and the after party. A week since he'd got insanely drunk _again _after the latest "lovely" talk between him and his father. And a full blown week since he managed to make a big mess of his relationship with Haley.

The guys had great fun taunting him about it. They weren't being harsh, they just revelled in the fact that this was the first time ever they'd seen the cocky-as-hell Scott so torn up about a girl that he hadn't even kissed yet. It was great to be in that position for once, since usually Nathan was always chewing them on their crushes.

"Seriously though what happened dawg?"

Last time any of them saw, he and Haley had been full on flirting…and now suddenly it was like the heat had cooled before it had even started.

Nathan shared a glance with his brother, him being the only other person to know how he managed to stuff up. Starting the day after that drunken disaster…

_F__lashback:_

Holy crap. _Why did it feel like his head had been run over by truck? _

"_Urnghhh…" He murmured something unintelligible._

_Trying to will away the insane throbbing in his mind, he rolled over trying to make sense of his surroundings. _

Smooth sheets…_his bed? How did he get there? All he could vaguely remember was lights, dancing, and drinking…lots and lots of drinking. _

_Pulling himself up and hating himself for doing so, he saw a figure come into his blurred vision. Blondish…slightly scrawny looking…Lucas? _

"_You look like shit."_

_Definitely Lucas. _

"_I feel like it too." Blinking his way to clarity he asked the dreaded question "What happened?"_

_Lucas snorted. "Man I'm getting a severe case of déjà vu here." On seeing Nathan's look and having heard the story first hand from Haley last night, Lucas decided to let it slide this time._

"_I have no idea exactly what happened." He admitted, "I just got a call from Haley at midnight saying you were drunk off your ass and she'd dragged you all the way to your dorm room. God knows that girl's puny but she's gotta have muscles of steel..." He trailed off as Nathan looked suddenly pale. _

_Quickly grabbing a bucket, he turned as his brother poured his guts out. Literally, by the sounds of it. _Sometimes I really hate my life…

"_Holy crap." He groaned as Lucas passed him what looked like orange juice but tasted like vile acid._

"_Damn…what the fuck is this Luke?" He fought the urge not to throw up again. The crap could burn a hole in his gut. _

"_Hangover cure." He shrugged, "It's a new one I got off Skills." _

_Skills, of course. He was always the weirdest one, the grossest one, the funniest one, not to mention the kinkiest one. _

_Ignoring Nathan's moans, Lucas went about disposing of the sick bucket and making sure Nathan knew exactly what he felt about having to handle his brother's puke once again. _

"_You know there's only so many times I can go through this Nathan! You can't let Dan drive you to drink every time…and then expect me to have to clean up after you _every time_. I mean honestly…a guy should never have to realise that his brother eats a seriously unhealthy amount of sweet corn, just because the amount of times he's seen it turn up in his vomit! And what the heck are these weird green sludgy things?..."_

Blah. Blah. Blah. Man Lucas can go on! _And what the heck was his brother doing inspecting his vomit? _God that guy is SO weird. Forget Skills, Lucas just one the title for the most grossest.

"_Geeze, god knows what crap you ingest!-"_

"_Lucas stop being such a prick and just get rid of the shit!" _

_He heard a flushing sound and was relieved to know that his brother had finally got rid of the nasty stuff. It probably won't be the last time today, but he didn't feel the urgent need to throw up again just yet, so he took that as a good sign. _

"_So, I take it your not up for…well anything now." Lucas raised an eyebrow at his brother's sorry state. "Good thing we had nothing planned."_

_Nathan just rubbed his temple continuously as though it would help stop the blurriness of his vision. _

_During those few minutes of silence as he let his brother adjust, Lucas took the liberty of making their room smell less like someone had just thrown up their insides. He traipsed into the bathroom hoping to find something of use in there. _

_Picking up the air freshener he found in the cabinet, he stopped suddenly. _What the heck? Since when did they have air freshener? _That being odd enough as it is, he read the label – Jasmine?_

_Sheesh, since when did they start stocking air freshener…and such a girly one at that? He looked over his shoulder seeing that his brother was still occupied. He looked around a bit which only seemed to confuse him further. _

_Jasmine soap, jasmine shampoo, jasmine conditioner…jasmine shower lotion?_

Okkaayyy…_feeling a little weird he made a u-turn and went right to the source of confusion. _

"_Hey Nate, when exactly did you lose your balls?"_

"_What?"_

_Seeing his brother's face he almost felt sorry for him. Not sorry enough to stop his inquisition though._

_Holding up the air freshener can he pointed at the label. "Jasmine…and it goes with all the other things – jasmine shampoo, jasmine shower lotion, heck the damn soap is girly too!"_

"_Ok, Luke – 1. Don't insult my balls. Ever. And 2. The Academy got my order mixed, I didn't order _jasmine._"_

"_Oh" _That made sense_. Though he certainly wasn't gonna let it go. Despite how he got the stuff, fact of the matter is – he and Nathan now had girly stuff! They were gonna smell like…girls! _Crap. Wait till the guys find out about this! It was not something they were gonna let go.

"_So you gonna tell me what happened last night?" He asked._

"_I was gonna ask you the same thing" Nathan said_

"_You don't remember _anything?_" _

"_I don't know. It's all kinda jumbled up." He frowned as he tried to concentrate on what had happened in the last 24 hours. "I remember the call from Dan…unfortunately."_

_Of all the things, couldn't he at least have forgotten that?_

"_Yeah, you got his call and then got drunk of your ass as usual." Lucas waited. _

"_I remember yelling at some guy, at the bar…the bartender?"_

"_Nothing new there."_

_Ignoring his brother he carried on delving further into his memories. It all looked so mixed up and confused. Closing his eyes, he really focused until something familiar stood out. _

_Or in this case – someone. _

_His eyes shot open, "Haley."_

"_Yeah, she was the one that called me last night; she must've been with you for a bit."_

"_She drove me home." _

_He remembered that part. He winced slightly remembering his moody and childish behaviour. _Damn, that is so not cool. _He wanted to impress her not act like a bratty, drunk kid. _

_Lucas chuckled, "Guess she got an eyeful of your lovely drunken side."_

"_Oh crap, I acted like such a moron." He held his face in his hands. This was so embarrassing. _

"_No arguments there." Lucas held his hands up in defence as Nathan glared at him. _

"_I think…oh shit!" Nathan's eyes widened as it started coming back to him. _

"_What?"_

"_Damn…I think I asked her to have sex with me!" _

_Nathan looked horrified while Lucas just burst out laughing. "Nice one man!" _

"_This isn't funny, I actually told her we should go at it right here in my bed." _

"_Oh god, can you imagine your drunk ass trying to seduce a frazzled Haley into bed. No wonder she looked freaked when me and Brooke got here."_

"_She was freaked? Crap…" Nathan's head hit his pillow again. Why did he always do this shit? Haley probably thought all kinds of things about him now, she saw a side of him that he never wanted her to witness. God, what must she think of him? Some drunken horny pervert! That was so NOT the impression he was trying to make. _

_He was so panicked in his thoughts that he wouldn't realise until later that he was actually worried about making an impression on a girl – and that was certainly a first for him!_

"_Is that it though?" _

"_Well lets see Lucas…I yelled at her like a crazy drunk in the bar…I whined and pouted like a bratty kid the whole ride home…I bitched continuously about Dan the whole time she carried my sorry ass up here…and then I tried to seduce her into having sex with me like some horny creep!..." Lucas couldn't stop shaking with laughter at his brother's predicament, "Quite frankly at this point I can't think of anything else I could've done on top of that to make the situation any worse than it already was!" He vented, annoyed with himself…and Lucas who wouldn't shut up laughing. _

"_Well this is gonna be interesting." Lucas couldn't wait to see how Nathan would handle it, and how Haley would react on seeing him later. The rest of them were used to Nathan's drunken actions, but she was new to the group and until now had shown some interest in his younger brother. _

_There were a few minutes of silence as he let Nathan come to terms with it, when suddenly he jack-knifed up in bed._

"_What?" Lucas said on seeing his crazed expression. "Something worse happened?"_

"_Much… much… worse!" _

"_Well what?"_

_Nathan looked his brother in the eye and said, "I think I told Haley I like her."_

_End of Flashback_

And after that everything went to hell.

He'd met up with Haley later that day, after an extremely lengthy and panicked conversation with Lucas about what the hell he was supposed to say.

All in all – he failed miserably.

He hadn't known how to excuse all his actions that night besides saying that he was drunk and had no idea what he was doing. But then if he said that he would basically be saying that he said he liked her but didn't really mean it.

Except he _did_ mean it…and that confused him even more.

He'd never _like_ liked a girl before. He knew she was different from the start, and he knew that she wasn't a one-night stand type of girl. No…Haley James was the type of girl that guys would _want _to be in a relationship with.

She was perfect…and he wasn't.

So what did Nathan do? He did what he did best. He got scared and ran the other way.

Scared of the idea that this girl could actually really make him commit; to something for the first time in his life that wasn't basketball. And that for some reason he could see now that if he had to pick between her and the game, he wasn't entirely sure that the ambition he had been working his entire life for so far would take precedence.

And that scared the shit out of him.

So, when he met up with her in the grounds later, alone, he tried to explain things. He told her that he was extremely sorry for however he acted, that he was drunk and stupid and that he hadn't wanted to put her in any kind of awkward position.

She'd accepted the apology with a sweet smile on her face which just made him feel even more crap.

And then he'd put that last nail in his coffin, he basically told her that he couldn't remember anything that happened the night before, he truly had no idea what he'd done or said and that when he gets drunk, he doesn't mean any of the things he does.

He remembered seeing the way her face fell and feeling like such a jerk after. She was completely understanding, and he was a complete chicken-shit.

He lied to her and he wasn't proud of it at all.

All things considered now Haley felt all awkward around him, and seemed to avoid at all costs to be around him alone. He wasn't sure what to make of that. As far as she was concerned, he didn't remember anything, so he didn't really understand why she wasn't able to hang around him or look him in the eye anymore.

He really needed to find out what was going on in her head. If he did, then he could find some way to fix this. This past week he found that watching her from afar wasn't enough, he missed her company. And he truly did like her.

* * *

"Hey, where you heading off to?" the brunette turned to her roommate.

"I've got to head over to the tutor centre, I'm tutoring Ryan for the next hour." Haley got her things together as she headed out of her last class.

"Ryan…as in Ryan Saunders? As in totally _hot_ Ryan Saunders?"

"Yes Brooke I believe that is the one" Haley smirked.

"Omigod! Talk about bagging yourself a hottie Tutorgirl!"

"I'm not _bagging_ anyone"

"Hello? He is totally Abercrombie and Fitch model type! What with the tussled brown hair…hot green eyes…damn great six pack…" she sighed dreamily

"Are you sure you don't wanna go instead?"

"Roomie what is wrong with you? That boy is HAWT with a capital H!" she said incredulous at Haley's indifference

"He's alright…" she trailed off thinking he was cute, but nowhere near the same league as Nathan.

"Geeze H. James, what's it gotta take for a guy to hook up with you around here?"

"A lot more than I'm sure it takes for them to hook up with you" she joked ducking to miss the pillow Brooke aimed at her head.

"Don't be jealous Sexually-Frustrated Girl" Haley just poked her tongue out in response. "Anyway as much as I'd love to debate with you on who you should hook up with…and _soon_ might I add…I have to go find Lucas."

Seeing Haley's quirked eyebrow and hearing her "really?" she stopped her roommate's train of thought right there.

"He just called saying he had some of my stuff to give me, that's all" but Haley didn't miss the resigned tone in her voice.

"Tell you what, after I've finished with my session, how about we go grab some ice cream from Patty's and then head over to the gym?"

"Yes to the ice cream…HELL no to the working out"

"We're not working out Brookie"

"Then, why?"

"The _male _gym, I hear ice cream goes nicely with hottie spotting" Brooke's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"You have been spending _way_ too much time with me Roomie"

"Tell me about it!" Haley responded good-naturedly. Their evening had already been freed up since Jake called and said that movie night wouldn't be so great for him tonight, and after getting similar calls from Skills and Mouth they dropped it the idea. It was a good thing though, since her roommate could clearly do with some cheering up.

"Alright its settled, you go do your thing with McCutie, I'll go deal with the Dick, then we'll meet up for our date!" Brooke grinned feeling slightly better.

"So now it's a date?"

"Well you're bypassing all Hot Guy Potential that comes your way…you gonna pass up a date with my sexy self too?" she pouted with such a forlorn look on her face that Haley couldn't help but laugh.

"I could never pass up a date with you Davis," she grinned smacking a kiss on her cheek and running out the door.

"Don't be late!" Brooke yelled after her, about to close the door before adding, "And don't forget to get me flowers!…I like orchids!"

_Right Brooke get yourself together_. She was not looking forward to the meeting she was about to have. Heading over to the Scott brothers dorm room, she steadied herself outside the door before knocking briskly.

Hard brown eyes met nervous blue ones. Soft "heys" exchanged as he let her in. She surveyed her surroundings smirking slightly. There were so many differences between the Scott brothers, it was obvious to anyone that they were as different as night and day. And observing their room only served to prove her point. You had one side with the bed neatly made, shelves stacked high with way too many books in her opinion, as well as others arranged sporadically around the bed, and the rest of the occupants things all arranged in an organised manner. No doubt that was where Lucas Scott made himself at home. And then there was Nathan's end of the room which couldn't be more different. Bed completely unmade, clothes thrown over the back of his chair, an empty pizza box on the floor, and all sorts of basketball-related items - Sports Illustrated magazines, jerseys, playbooks, gym bag and the inevitable basket ball itself.

"So how you been?" Lucas broke the silence.

"Well things haven't really changed this much since this morning," she smiled indicating how long it'd been since they last saw each other.

He chuckled. "True that."

He gazed at her, having not seen her amongst his regular surroundings in so long. He couldn't help but think despite the obvious awkwardness how right she seemed to fit there, he opened his mouth to say something but she beat him to it.

"So what exactly did I come over for?"

Straight to the point. That's all she ever was like with him nowadays. Not that he could blame her.

"Er well…" and things were about to get a lot more awkward. "I kinda have some of your stuff, from back when…erm…"

"When you were secretly screwing my best friend behind my back" she put bluntly.

"Right," he hated how her voice was devoid of any emotion. It was times like this when he felt he had no hope of getting her back.

"So get on with it Lucas, I haven't got all day," she said all business-like.

He pulled out a box from his closet and handed it over, not liking the overbearing sadness he felt as he did. By keeping her things around him he could almost pretend it was like she never left. Returning them now was like cutting the final tie of their relationship.

She examined the items in the box.

Tickets. From their first concert together, some weirdo rock band called Travis.

A locket. He gave to her on their three month anniversary, ironically the two pictures she'd put inside were of him and Peyton.

Nail polish. Whenever he got zoned into one of his books she'd sit their contently colouring her nails. She even got him to do them at times - not that he'd admit it to anyone.

Pink cami. She'd wear it whenever she slept over.

Cheer skirt. She almost blushed seeing that. She'd wondered where her last one went and it was clear that it had stayed at Lucas' after that night they won a game against the Wildcats. He'd practically ripped it off her as soon as they got through the door.

A few other bits of jewellery were lying here and there. She noticed Lucas was watching her closely as though gaging her reaction. She wasn't going to give him the benefit of seeing any emotion from her, so straightening on a mask of indifference she thanked him for the box.

"I should be going now."

"Oh right, you got any plans?" Knowing she didn't considering their movie plans were cancelled earlier. _Maybe I could convince her to stay and…well…getting her to stay at this point would be good enough._

"Yeah I do." _Wait, what?_

He frowned as she adjusted the box in her hands and headed for the door. _How could she have plans already? Who were they with? What kind of plans exactly? _He was annoyed as a bunch of scenarios went through his head, mainly of her and some random idiot guy.

"Anything special?"

She froze at his questioning tone. Facing away from him she smirked. _Did he think she had a date? _She turned to look at him and noticed the slight irritation in his features. _Oh yeah, he definitely did. _She could have fun with this.

"Actually yeah it is" She had to keep from smiling at the increased frowning on his face. _What right did he have to be annoyed anyway? He didn't want her! _

"So you have a date." He concluded, not knowing how far off he was. Brooke though didn't bother denying it, the way she saw it Haley had called it a date anyway. "With who?"

"You know what Lucas. I really have to go. Need to get ready and all" she sent him a small smile and left the room.

_What the hell?_

That was so not the way he envisioned her visit. He wasn't naïve to believe that he could've won her over or anything. But he figured that he could of at least gotten to talk to her a bit. _Properly. _Without everyone else around, jut one on one so she didn't have a chance to put her walls up. Maybe reminisce on some of the things in the box, giving her a chance to remember all the good parts of the relationship too. He noticed the quick blush on her face on seeing the cheer skirt. And he also noticed how quickly she got rid of it.

But this? This was SO not what was supposed to happen. She wasn't meant to waltz in, take the damn box, not give a crap, waltz back out and mention she was on a date with someone _else! _Who the hell was this guy? And why was he after HIS girl. Not that she knew she was his. But she was, and she is. He just had to remind her.

Dammit!

He was so frustrated he fell back onto his bed. He had no idea how long he had been lying there feeling sorry for himself and envisioning Brooke with a number of different guys, but a while had passed when he heard his phone buzzing beside him.

"Hello," he didn't bother hiding his depression.

"Hey Luke? I need your help!" he sat up at the panicked tone...hearing the situation from the voice down the line he answered, "Alright I'm on my way" as he left the room.

* * *

"Alright so as long as you use this formula, you'll be able to get it all done quite easily."

He looked up and smiled charmingly.

"Thanks Haley, you make it seem so easy."

"Well good, the easier you think it is, the better it makes me look" She joked.

"Oh right, far be it from me to tarnish your fragile reputation" he answered smoothly.

"Glad you understand," she smiled back at him. She found it surprisingly easy to talk to him. Might have something to do with his good looks and laidback manner. "But trust me, _nothing _about me is fragile…" she smirked as his eyes widened slightly.

It took her about 5 seconds after that to realise that she was flirting. With Ryan Saunders. As in, not Nathan Scott. Where had that come from? Sure the guy was hot and easy to talk to, but up until now she'd always pictured Nathan on the other side of her flirty innuendo.

_But Nathan Scott doesn't like you remember?_ She really hated that voice in her head sometimes. The very thing she was trying to forget but was constantly reminded. Nathan Scott admitting that he had no clue what he said/did while he was drunk. She remembered as soon as the words came out of his mouth, the rejection she felt hit her instantly.

"_I didn't mean anything I might have said or done. I was just really drunk and out of it." _

Then he smiled and asked her if they were cool. She was so not cool. But its not like she could say that, so she smiled and agreed.

And then avoided him like the plague.

She knew he'd noticed, he kept trying to meet her eyes, but she just couldn't do it. She feel embarrassed, and unimportant. She knew it wasn't his fault, he didn't _have _to like her. She just assumed with all the looks, the talks, the flirting - there was something on both sides. But yet again, Haley puts too much emphasis on something that was never there to begin with. She'd known Nathan's reputation, he was a natural flirt. She intrigued him for a few seconds because she was new. The novelty had most certainly worn off by now.

So why was she flirting with Ryan now? Well as Taylor once told her, "there's plenty of hot guys out there who want you" And Ryan Saunders was interested, that was obvious. She had to stop focusing on the guy who didn't want her and start focusing on the one that did.

Having gone off in serious thought she was startled by Ryan waving a hand in front of her face.

"Haley, you still with me?"

"What? Sorry…yeah I'm still here." She shrugged slightly embarrassed.

"Good, it's not exactly ego-boosting for a guy such as myself to have a pretty girl focus on something other than him." He said it with a cute grin on his face that let her know there was no arrogance behind the words.

"A guy such as yourself? And who might that be?" She was too busy listening to his response that she didn't hear the door to the tutor room open as someone entered.

"Like you said I'm hot, charming, funny…sexy." He winked, "what's not to like?"

"I'm sorry, _when_ exactly did I say this?" She grinned playing along.

"Well you were definitely thinking it. And don't try and deny it, I saw you checking me out when I walked in."

"You might wanna get that eyesight checked then Saunders,"

"And you might wanna give me your number James,"

He was forward.

She liked it.

"I guess you're gonna need it if you need an emergency tutor session at some point," she scribbled it down on the paper he handed her.

"And if that session happens to be in a restaurant, with a great view, my charming company and a hot dress on you, then so be it." He sent a smirk her way, it had nothing on Nathan's but he wore it well regardless.

"I'll see you later Ryan."

She smiled as he got up and gathered his things.

"I'll _call_ you later Haley."

And just like that he left.

_Woah_. She'd just given her number out to a hot guy. A hot guy who wasn't Nathan. _Woah indeed_.

Packing her things into her bag she didn't hear the footsteps come up behind her. Too deep in thought she strung her bag over her shoulder and turned around…right into a wall.

Or well, Nathan's chest.

"Nathan?"

"Haley." She looked at him wondering what he was doing here. He seemed a little weird. His face looked emotionless, and the way he said her name, he sounded…irritated.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." There was that edge to his voice again. What was that about?

"Oh?" Seeing he wasn't going to add anything she continued, "Well you found me…is there something you need?"

"What? I can't come and see you without having to need something?" he all but barked at her face.

_What the hell?_

"Nathan what the hell is wrong with you?" she saw his face, full of emotion now - anger mostly. And she may have been crazy but it seemed to be directed at her. "Is everything ok?"

He chuckled dryly, his face becoming emotionless again. "Oh its just great Haley. Everything is just _great_." His tone implying it was anything but. "In fact I'm great Haley."

_Ok…is he drunk again?_

"And how are you today Haley?" He crossed his arms and stared her down.

"I'm fine."

He snorted. "I'll bet you are."

"Excuse me?" She was getting annoyed right now. She didn't know what his problem was, but he was taking it out on her and she was not going to stand for it.

"I mean, I guess I would feel pretty fine too if I was handing out my number to random guys I barely knew" he practically spat as he walked right up to her, his edgy tone belying the stone cold look on his face.

"You saw that?"

"Yeah I did." He glared at her, "See I'd ran into Brooke on her way out of my dorm room, and I asked her where I could find you, so we could sort out…whatever the hell it is we need to sort out so we can be us again! And when I finally do find you, to try and figure out this relationship, you're practically throwing yourself on some random guy!"

That's it. She felt her temper rise - how dare he accuse of her of such a thing! She was not like that and he of all people should know that by now.

"I was _not _throwing myself on some _random _guy!" He was startled by her sudden increase in temper. "If you _must_ know I was tutoring Ryan and he needed my number so we can arrange to meet up for future sessions."

"Oh right, forgive me" he snarked while towering over her, "you were just _tutoring_. And I supposed all that flirting was just part of your lesson plan?"

"What you're spying on me now?" her anger spiked, and she moved right up to him, "how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough"

"Clearly. And so what if I was flirting with him! What's it to you Scott?"

"What?"

"What's. It. To. You." She emphasised each word with a poke to his chest. "Huh? How is it any of _your_ business if I flirt with Ryan, or any other guy?" He should tell her the truth, the way she was looking at him right now, her golden waves disarrayed from running her hand through them, her chocolate brown eyes sparked with anger, an intensity in them he hasn't quite seen before, but nonetheless finds directed his way now.

She looked hot as hell.

But he still couldn't tell her that the real reason he was so pissed off was that he couldn't stand the thought of her with Ryan, or any other guy. His fists clenched at the mere thought.

"Hey, I was just looking out for you. I could see the way that guy was looking at you Haley, he just wants in your pants. The way he was staring at you, it was like a dog in heat!" she flinched, "And you were just making it way too easy for him, is that what you want people to think Haley? That you're easy?"

_Did he just call her a slut? _

"What? Of course not! Goddammit Nathan! That is NOT what was happening and you know it!" God he was making her see red. She threw her bag to the side. "And how DARE YOU say I'm a slut!"

"I didn't say you were a slut!"

"You sure as hell implied it!" she snorted, "and coming from the Man-Whore Extraordinaire himself, a little hypocritical don't you think?"

He visibly flinched. She knew one of the things he liked about her was that she didn't judge him based on his reputation. She knew that saying that would hit a nerve. But he freakin well started it! _Nobody_ got away with calling her a slut.

"Well from the looks of it that seems to be what you go for." He raised an eyebrow, "But Ryan Saunders? Honestly Hales, the guy was practically drooling and begging you to give him your number. You're obviously desperate but you could at least have standards." He smirked as her face tinged pink with fury. He knew he was being a jackass but he didn't care at that point. The scenario between her and that prick, flirting outrageously, like she had been doing with him not so long ago was still fresh in his mind.

_What. A. Jackass._

She was seriously considering kneeing him in the groin for that comment.

She moved right up into his space. Looking him dead in the eye as he gazed down at her. "Let's get one thing straight Nathan Scott," she said in a dangerously edgy tone, "What I do and don't do with any guy around here is _none _of your business. And if you ever try and make it any of your business, I will personally make sure you will never be able to reproduce in the future." He gulped slightly at that, "I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but you are _not_ going to tear me down to make yourself feel better. I am not a slut, I am not a whore, I do not throw myself onto random strangers, and if you seriously think any of that about me then I don't even know why we're friends in the first place."

"Haley-"

"_And" _she cut him off not having finished, "You can trust me on this…" having his undivided attention, "Ryan Saunders may be a lot of things, but if I was to go out with him it wouldn't be because I was desperate or because he wanted in my pants…it would be because he genuinely likes me, and he actually has the balls to admit it."

She then backed away, and went to pick up her bag.

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" He was so damn frustrated at this point.

"It means what it means Nathan, Ryan has one thing you don't. He's got determination, he goes after what he wants."

His mouth dropped open at that. Was she seriously saying that to him? She was telling him, Nathan Scott, that he doesn't go after what he wants? The absurdity in that statement alone had him stumped.

"He goes after _who_ he wants." She added softly.

Then it clicked.

And she started walking away.

"Haley!"

She stopped at the door, facing away from him.

She heard the footsteps this time, until they stopped right behind her. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck.

"You can trust me on this…" he mimicked her words from before, she could feel his mouth by her ear.

"I _always _go after what I want."

Fuck, she could practically feel her heart flip out of her chest.

"And I always _get_ what I want."

His breath made her skin tingle. But dammit, she was not going to back down.

Turning to face him, with practically no space between them, she glared at him, "Really? Like when?" she stared him down, her chin jutting out daring him to prove it.

He stared intensely at her face, his gaze lowering to her lips. Full. Luscious. Pouty. Lips.

And all and any restraint he had broke.

"Like _now_." he growled, grabbing her by the waist, he shoved her up against the door and crashed his lips onto hers.


	13. Chapter 12a

**Chapter 12a**

"_It__ is __better __to __be__ off __with __the __old__ love __before __you __are __on__ with __the __new__" __**– **__**Unknown**_

Fireworks.

It felt like fireworks.

Her body was tingling…

She never knew you could get so much feeling from a _single_ kiss.

His lips moved over hers urgently. Hard. Fast.

One of his hands was running through hair, the other holding her firmly at the waist, her back still pressed up against the wall.

His tongue ran across her lips begging for entrance, she granted it immediately.

"Oh god…" she moaned as Nathan's tongue began teasing hers. Her arms moved wrapping themselves around his neck. They continued kissing passionately until air became an issue.

"Damn Haley," he murmured.

Before she could utter a response he moved in and started pressing kisses down her neck.

"Nathan," she moaned as he reached a sensitive area.

_Hot __damn!_ How many times had he imagined her moaning his name over and over again in his fantasies? To hear her actually out loud was more amazing than he could've imagined. It spurred him on, sucking and biting at her pulse point, making her almost whimper.

She'd never felt this hot before in her life. _God__ this __guy __could __KISS!_ Missing his lips on hers, she pulled them back up. He smirked having no problem with that at all.

She ran her hand through his hair, making him moan deeply into her mouth. She smiled at that, glad she had some effect on him.

Suddenly a loud ringing broke the moment. They pulled apart, realizing it was Nathan's phone. He ignored it and moved back in,

"Shouldn't you get that?" she said in between kisses.

"I think this is much more important," he responded loving the way she ran her hand through his hair.

The consistent ringing was becoming a bother though.

"Dammit," Nathan pulled away, and took out his phone. "Yeah?" he responded slightly out of breath.

Haley was trying to catch her own as she watched him. His other arm was still holding her around the waist, his fingers stroking her skin softly where her top didn't quite meet her jeans. She wondered if he even realised he was doing it.

She watched a frown take over his face.

"Alright, I'll be right there." _Damn._

"You have to go?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to. Trust me," he smirked looking down on her flustered form.

"So erm…we should…er…or should we?…maybe…" his smirk grew wider at her stuttering. _She__ was __so __adorable __sometimes._

He gave her a soft peck on her lips to stop her rambling. He shouldn't have since one feel of her gentle pliant lips under his made him want to go for round two there and then, but he had to get going. If it weren't for the urgency of the phone call then rest be assured, he and Haley wouldn't be leaving this room anytime soon.

"I have to go now, but we'll definitely be meeting later." He grinned on seeing that infectious smile of hers.

"To talk?" despite the encounter they just had she was still unsure on where they stand. Were they a couple now? Was he her boyfriend? Did he want to be? Or was this just a one-off thing?

"Well I guess we can talk too." He winked as he let himself out.

Haley followed a few minutes later, having composed herself, but not losing that huge grin on her face the whole way back to her dorm.

* * *

As soon as Nathan entered the room he sorely wished he hadn't. The shrieks of the tiny infant in Luke's arms were loud enough for bats to hear. He was sure of it.

"Ok, what the hell is going on?"

"Nathan! Don't say H-E-L-L" Jake admonished, taking the baby into his own arms.

"Right, like she can hear a damn curse right now." He muttered.

"How long has she been at it?" he directed to Skills who was massaging his temples nearby.

"Too long…"

Jake scowled in their direction, "Look I can't help it, I don't know what's wrong with her! I've tried rocking her, feeding her, changing her, burping her…" he proceeded to ramble on about how his baby was beyond help.

Nathan sighed; this is SO not what he signed on for. Why the hell did Jake call _him_ anyway? Out of the lot of them, he was probably the one who knew least about babies and this kind of stuff. But one look at Jake's desperate face and he bit his tongue from saying any of that out loud.

"Hey Nate, where were you exactly?"

"Around, why?"

"Nothing, just…" Skills smirked slightly, "You seem a little…ruffled."

The guys suddenly all started staring at him and Nathan began to feel a little uncomfortable under their probing gazes.

"What are you talking about?"

"He's right, you hair for starters is completely out of control…" Lucas squinted at him

"And your shirts all messed up," Skills eyed how creased and out of place it looked

Even with a crying baby in his arms, Jake managed to point out that his face looked kinda flushed.

"Wait a minute," Lucas smirked, one painfully close to his own, "You were with a girl weren't you?"

Nathan rolled his eyes, "Aren't we supposed to be focusing on Jenny here?"

"Avoiding the question? That's unlike you Nate," Skills said and Nathan wasn't sure he liked his tone.

Or that look that the guys suddenly all shared.

He cleared his throat, which only seemed to fuel Jenny on. That seemed to snap everyone back into business.

"You know sometimes babies cry for no reason, they're just colic." Lucas offered and they all looked at him with similar 'What the fuck?' expressions.

Rolling his eyes he continued, "I watched a documentary with my mum once. They said some babies were colic; it's a condition in young babies, where they keep crying for hours at a time. There isn't an actual reason for it, they just do."

Silence.

Then…

"Man, you _need_ to get out more!"

"_This_ is what you do in your spare time?"

"You watched a baby program with your _mum_?"

"Hey! I don't see you guys coming up with anything!" Lucas argued; though he knew it was futile, he wasn't gonna hear the end of this for a while.

"So say she is this colon thing…"

"_Colic_ Skills"

"Whatever dawg…how long does it last exactly?"

"From what I remember, about 3 weeks give or take"

"What?" Jake practically screamed himself, "3 WEEKS? I can't handle this for one night let alone 3 fricking weeks!"

"Language Jake…" Nathan reprimanded ignoring the death glare he was given.

"Or you know the program also said that sometimes babies just like to be rocked…" Lucas began

"What do you think I'm doing Luke?" Jake whisper-yelled furiously. Nathan raised his eyebrows; he'd never seen calm, rational Jake so frazzled before.

"…well it said they usually look for comfort in their mother…" he trailed off uneasily

"Well that's gonna be kinda hard, considering well the mother…oh yes that's right…she LEFT!"

"What difference does it even make?" Nathan asked

"Do _you_ have breasts?" Lucas pointed out

"If only…" Skills sighed not realising the odd looks he received from the rest of them.

"Urgh, just…here Nathan you try!"

"Wait what?"

Before he knew it, he had a baby in his hands and Jake next to him instructing on how to hold the little girl.

_Great she clearly has Jake's musician lungs…_

Rocking slightly shakily, he started panicking. It's not like he'd had experience in this kind of thing before. Babies were generally something he stayed away from. There was just something so fragile looking about them…

_Ok Nathan just calm down_

Jake was trying to tell him something but he wasn't concentrating with all his thoughts directed on the tiny soft person enfolded in his arms.

_Support the head. Support the head. Support the head. _

He was nowhere near feeling comfortable at that point. He could even feel a trickle of sweat working its way down the back of his neck. She wasn't getting any less loud which didn't help either.

_Am I even doing this right?_

Shifting his arms slightly, so that his left hand was under Jenny's head and his other was supporting her on her lower back.

_Frick she's TINY! _

_Oh god Oh god Oh god_

She looked like she was in pain. Why was she crying exactly? WAS she in pain? Was it him? Was he doing something wrong?

Is this what a panic attack felt like?

_Jake! I need Jake! _

His eyes flitted around in a panic spotting the brown haired boy collapsing on the couch.

_What __is __he __doing?_ He watched as Jake got all nice and relaxed on the cushy seat and totally ignored Nathan's existence.

That pissed him off. He knew Jake was more attentive than that. His daughter was screaming bloody murder and the guy looked like he was ready to just lie there and have a beer.

Wait, he WAS having a beer!

Did he not care about Jenny at all? What, one tiny-yet-slightly-deafening crying fit and all of a sudden he was disowning the kid? Great, poor Jenny – now she had two absentee parents. And Skills and Lucas didn't seem to fussed either. Just fuckin' perfect. That just left him and what the heck did he know?

"Thanks Nathan, you're doing great" Jake sighed while rubbing his eyes.

_Huh?_

"Yeah who knew you'd be such a natural" Lucas said perplexed.

"Dawgs got it down!" Skills looked something akin to proud.

Nathan looked down at the tiny infant in his arms. She just looked back up gurgling and cooing. Not a single cry coming out of her. And hadn't been for the last ten minutes if he'd been paying attention.

He smirked, more than a little chuffed at his accomplishment.

"Well you guys always knew I had skills with the ladies" he waggled his eyebrows at her. Lucas chuckled, Skills snorted, Jake narrowed his eyes.

And then kindly informed Nathan that he could use his skills and watch her until she slept then.

Three hours later, Nathan was still waiting.

* * *

Brooke was rambling. And Haley wasn't listening.

It had been this way the whole way through their little girl date. It started at the gym, then when they went for ice cream and now sitting on a bench in the grounds.

Brooke was _not_ a rambler by nature. Haley knew this, considering she _was_. So to have her sitting there in complete silence, smiling at the air around her and Brooke Davis sitting there stumbling over her words…anyone could see something was not right.

"And I have _no_ idea why I said it, but it just came out…of course it's not like it was actually a lie, I AM on a date, just not with the right species-"

"Gender."

The abrupt interruption finally stopped Brooke mid-spiel.

"What?"

"We're a different gender not _species_." She chuckled light-heartedly still staring at the world around her. It looked simply glorious in the light of the late afternoon. She sighted contentedly.

"Ok what is WITH you?"

"Sorry?"

"There's something wrong. You keep smiling!" Haley almost laughed at that. "And sighing all dreamy-like. And you're staring at the grass like a goofball on crack!"

Now she had to laugh. And though Brooke had no idea why, it was so infectious that she couldn't help herself either. They both ended up lying on the grass from laughing so hard.

"Ok ok…" Brooke calmed down, "Now you have to tell me. Something's up, and I wanna know what"

Propping her head on her elbow she gave Haley her undivided attention.

"What makes you think something's up with me? And didn't you want to talk about what happened with Lucas?"

"Lucas Schmucas" Brooke rolled her eyes, "It's the same old thing. We have some weird moment, he gets sad puppy dog eyes and I look like some cold-hearted bitch."

Haley could tell despite the nonchalant attitude Brooke had on, she felt more than she gave away. It was a tough situation, and hard to be on any side of it – but particularly hers.

She mimicked her friend's position and decided to get her mind off things with some good old distracting gossip.

"Nathan kissed me."

Brooke's eyes almost popped out.

"Explain NOW!"


	14. Chapter 12b

**Chapter 12b**

_"If there is a 50-50 chance that something can go wrong, then 9 times out of ten it will." **– Paul Harvey**_

Nathan had just survived the longest night of his life. And strangely it had nothing to do with basketball or sex, usually the only things he'd be willing to lose sleep over.

He certainly never expected to ever stay up all night rocking a baby.

A _baby_ for Christ's sake!

He was only 16, he wasn't supposed to be anywhere near babies for at least another 30 years. He figured by the time he was nearing 50 he would've ran out of excuses with Lucas to avoid spending time with his nephews (had to be nephews, Scotts seemed incapable of producing girls). He knew one thing for sure after last night. He really did have new-found respect for Jake. The guy had to go through that all the time. Nathan had no clue how he did it, and still managed to stay up to date on school work, basketball, hanging out with friends, and generally just being calm, funny, mild-mannered Jake.

And he always thought _he _had a lot to deal with. All he had was Dan and basketball. He wasn't in charge of a whole (albeit tiny) human being. That needed and depended on him for _everything_. Seeing the way Jake handled Jenny last night really opened his eyes to how much his friend dealt with, and on a daily basis. He felt shattered after one night, how many days and nights had Jake gone through feeling like this? Nathan recalled a lot of times where Jake had to cancel on practice or hanging out with the group last minute. He also remembered feeling annoyed with his friend a little, and ribbing him out on never being around anymore. And after seeing firsthand what a fraction of his life was like last night, Nathan Scott felt ashamed of himself.

On reaching his door and twisting the knob he made a vow to himself.

He vowed that he would help out his friend a hell of a lot more than he had been.

Not having even finished the thought, it was immediately replaced with another one once his door was open.

"Hi Nathan"

"Rachel...what..." _the hell are you doing in my room?_

Of course all speech and thoughts died when he realised she was sitting there on his bed, staring at him...

...completely naked.

* * *

"Soooo..."

Haley chuckled. "Brooke just ask, being discreet is not your forte"

"Oh yay!" She jumped down onto the bed Haley had been in the process of making. "Are you gonna get with Nathan already?"

"Well when you put it that way..." she rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on Haley," she followed her roommate round to the bathroom. "I haven't got any action in ages, I have to live through you!"

"Have to?"

"Do you know how sad that is?"

"Unfortunately, I do."

"So when are you going to see him? Are you busy now? You could go now?"

Haley almost laughed at the hopeful expression on Brooke's face.

"You really haven't had any action lately have you?"

"Noooo," Brooke flopped down on the bed, defeated. "The most interaction I've had with any guy lately was that pathetic stop by at Lucas' place for my stuff."

"So ever since you've broken up with Lucas...the most male interaction you've had since...is with Lucas?"

Brooke looked like she was going to cry.

"Hey, it's ok-"

"Ok?!" she looked suddenly furious. "How is that ok Haley?"

Haley winced; she'd used her actual name. That didn't sound good.

"I haven't been with a guy since Lucas! Do you know how sad that is? I'm sitting here like some kind of nun while god knows how many sluts he's been banging!"

Haley crinkled her nose. That was not imagery she needed.

"What am I waiting around for exactly? I'm young, I'm hot, I'm _great_ in bed, I'm hot-"

"You already said that"

"I'm THAT hot Haley! And I'm just wasting all this time, when I could be having great sex with so many hot guys,"

"Er...how many are we talking exactly?"

"As many as I want!"

"Huh...don't know whether that's one point for feminism, or for sluttiness..."

"Feminism Haley! He can go around whoring it up whoever he likes, and straight after we broke up as well...not to mention before that too. So why the double standard? I should be allowed to go around whoring it up too"

"Huh, so now you're a slut with a principle?"

"Oh shut up!"

With that she flopped down onto her bed, arms crossed, silently fuming at her roommate. Haley just stared back, arms crossed, still standing. For the next few moments neither said a word and just kept it up. And a few moments after that Haley smirked, Brooke raised an eyebrow and just like that they both burst out laughing.

"You're such a cow"

"You're a whore!"

"Not yet!"

"I have faith don't worry"

Cue the pillows started flying.

* * *

Haley turned the corner on her way to Nathan's room. She hadn't seen him since the day before and the more she kept putting it off the more she got anxious about it.

Sure they kissed, they _really_ kissed! She still felt flushed just thinking about it. There may be a lot of things people said about Nathan Scott – playboy, star athlete, man whore, golden boy...god knows the list was endless...but one thing that was definitely right was _fantastic_ kisser.

She let out a dreamy sigh...

...and then frowned at what she just did.

Last time she checked, she was not _that_ type of girl. She didn't do 'dreamy sighs' and certainly not over one kiss. Hell maybe her first one but certainly not now.

She reached his door and stopped walking. Instead of knocking, she just stared. She was nervous, her stomach all up in knots, her fingers felt jittery, her head was spacing out on that kiss every few seconds, and she kept letting out these pointless sighs! Pointless dreamy sighs.

She needed to get it together.

This was no way to go see Nathan in. She needed to be cool, calm and collected. Not a jumpy, uneasy mess. And definitely not some kind of barely-there daydreaming twit! Besides she could already see how confident and together Nathan was going to be. That guy seemed to have game 24/7, and not just on the court!

"Well that's definitely one way to put it."

Haley's eyes bugged. That wasn't supposed to be said out loud!

"Guess I don't have to ask what's on your mind" Peyton eyed the door Haley had been staring at, "or who."

"You weren't supposed to hear that"

Peyton laughed, "I won't tell don't worry. God knows Nathan doesn't need an even bigger ego than the one he has"

Haley returned her smile. Though the knots were still ever present in her gut. She could practically feel them getting nice and comfortable in there, setting up lots of little knot families, with knot houses and electing a freaking knot mayor!

"Haley, you ok?"

She shook her head.

"Is this about the kiss?"

Seeing her shocked look, Peyton elaborated. "Brooke just called me and told me what happened. She wanted me to check you weren't freaking out since I live just round the corner..."

_Makes sense._ The dorms were arranged alphabetically so figures Peyton Sawyer would be set right near the Scott brothers. She vaguely wondered what Brooke must feel about that, Peyton must've have been close at hand to Lucas the whole of last year while he was with Brooke.

"...to be honest I'm not surprised you kissed him. Just surprised you held out this long."

"Hey!"

"Woah, not saying you're a slut" Peyton stuck her hands up in a ridiculous pose

"Just saying that despite his overbearingly cocky jackass ways...the man is hot."

"Peyton, are _you_ ok?"

"Hey! I may not be into the album, but it doesn't mean I can't check out the cover."

And that did it.

Haley started laughing.

They both ended up leaning on the wall opposite the dreaded door she'd been staring at.

"You know, I happen to know for a fact that he likes you."

Haley looked down not sure what to say.

"And I know for a fact you like him too...and his game apparently" She quipped.

Haley snorted.

"So just go knock on the door and deal with the fact that you both like each other." She straightened up and added, "Either way I'm right round the corner"

With that she left.

Haley straightened up and stared at the door again. This was it, she was going to man the hell up and face him. She was going to tell him she liked him, and that she _knew_ he liked her. And then she was going to kiss him again.

And probably kiss him some more.

She smiled – there was a plan. She was good with plans, always had been. It was what made her such a great tutor.

Raising her hand to knock on the door, she was startled when it flew open itself. Or not by itself as it were...

Haley stood shocked. A shirtless Nathan was standing there equally shocked. And in between them was Nathan's missing shirt...on one conniving, looking way-too-happy with herself redhead.

"Well isn't this awkward," she Rachel smirked.

Haley just turned and walked away, ignoring Nathan call after her.

She was too busy trying desperately not to think about how the Nathan's shirt had been the same one he was wearing from yesterday.

Or how it seemed to be the _only_ thing Rachel Gatina was wearing.


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"_The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination," __**– Tommy Lasorda**_

She kept replaying it all in her head.

Maybe she hadn't seen what she thought she saw.

Maybe there was some logical explanation for all this.

Maybe she was overreacting. Or over-thinking.

Over-thinking what exactly? It all looked pretty obvious from where she was standing!

Oh god, maybe she needed to get the hell out of her head! The situation was driving her _insane_.

She looked around trying to distract herself and almost laughed at where her anxious feet had brought her. Of course thanks to Brooke dragging her here all the time, it almost seemed second nature to find herself right in the middle of the high school gym. She sighed taking in all the different machines dotted around below, with various people pounding through their workouts. Yes, she was at the gym. Yes, she'd shamelessly come here to try and distract herself by checking out the guys by the weights. No she didn't care at this point if they caught her.

She was too busy being trying to stay out of her own head.

And if she were completely honest, she had no idea what it was exactly she was feeling. Something along the lines of - a little bit of fresh anger, mixed with major disappointment, some bitter resentment, topped with a lot of unstable insecurity.

The problem was she couldn't understand the _why_ of it all.

Had she just misread the entire situation with Rachel? Or had she somehow managed to make up this whole thing with Nathan? Maybe he really didn't like her that way? Why would he bother with all the flirting and the looks and one-on-one time if he just wanted to hook up with his ex the whole time? He can't be completely over her for Haley to find them in such a compromising position.

She thought back to all the moments she'd had with him.

She couldn't have made it all up.

_Could she?_

"Tutorgirl? Tutorgirl...Tutorgirl!"

Haley looked up to see both Brooke and Peyton looking around, the former offering her not so subtle voice for the search. Not feeling bothered to shout back she just waved her hand until it caught their eye and they came rushing over.

"What the hell is this Peyton's telling me about Ginger Nut prancing around at Boytoy's place in his goddamn shirt?"

"Brooke, dammit! Keep it down!"

Haley shot Peyton a grateful look; Brooke and subtlety just never seemed to go hand in hand.

"Wait how did you know?"

Peyton looked almost sheepish. "Well I was kinda spying from the corner and saw what happened..."

Haley kinked an eyebrow, "You _spied_ on me?"

"Well SHE made me do it!"

Brooke looked horrified at being made. "Well YOU didn't have to out me!"

"She would've known anyway! It's not like these crazy nutjob ideas are ever anyone else's"

"Crazy nutjob? Try concerned friend! I had to look out for her – and clearly I was right"

"Woah GIRLS!"

Both blonde and brunette turned to her with similar pink tinges occupying their faces. Haley frowned a little. She was all for friendly banter between friends, but judging by their expressions and tones, she got the sense that the bitterness hadn't yet faded from their friendship.

And any other day she would have taken account and tried to help. But right now she filed it away for future reference.

"It's ok, alright? Clearly I was thinking one thing when it came to Nathan and I, and he wasn't on the same wavelength"

"Bullshit."

"C'mon Brooke, you can't think-"

"I can and I will Haley James. I've seen the way you two have been around each other, right from the start. And I've noticed the way he is with you. He is _definitely_ interested. That is no lie."

"It makes no difference if he's still hung up on his ex"

Brooke snorted.

"No seriously Brooke, I don't want to be with a guy that isn't over his last relationship"

This time the snort came from Peyton.

"You guys, if he's actually still into her than I'm not going to put myself into that equation. Maybe if he likes her so much, she isn't _that_ bad a person." Haley could practically feel those words leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

"Oh please! First of all, nobody in their _right mind_ would ever be hung up on Rachel sodding Gatina! That would mean actually _liking_ her in the first place. Second, what Nathan and Rachel HAD was not a relationship, it was an extended booty call. And third, even if it was more than sex, Nathan is not that stupid that he hasn't figured out Rachel is just some vapid whore who goes around getting off on other people's misery! So no Tutorgirl, don't you dare try and turn this around. You like him. He likes you. That slut knows it as much as the rest of us."

"What are you saying Brooke?"

This time Peyton jumped in. "She's saying that we know enough about how Rachel works to think that maybe there's more to this than meets the eye. I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow orchestrated the whole thing."

Haley's heart jumped at that, the idea that the whole thing was some kind of misunderstanding. That Rachel was just some evil hoe who was out to get at her and Nathan had done nothing wrong under the circumstances.

She really really wanted it to be true.

Right on cue, her phone started ringing.

They all went silent, anticipating Nathan calling.

Instead Haley saw Alice's name flashing across the screen. Excusing herself she went to speak to a girl that would know exactly what she should do.

"You know one of us should probably talk to Nathan and find out what the hell he was doing"

"Brooke…I think that-"

"You should do it? Yeah I agree."

"Wait why me?"

"Cos you can be all rational and stuff, I just really feel like ripping his head off right now"

Peyton had no doubt about that, Brooke was practically _growling_. She studied her best friend and the way the brunette was watching Haley with a frown. Peyton knew that look, Brooke wouldn't admit it but she was worried. She never liked to show it, but Hurricane Brooke had a real soft side, an inner mother hen that she couldn't brush off in her – even if she tried.

She sighed, missing her friend.

Sure they hung out and joked around, and secretly conspired to help 'Naley' as Brooke had termed them. But that was all on the surface. When it came to it, that deep, meaningful aspect of their friendship had never truly been revived following the triangle aftermath. Despite that nobody is with Lucas and in Peyton's case even planning to be, their friendship had never fully restored. And it was in serious moments like this that it was most apparent.

"Brooke I don't think it's a good idea for us to butt in. This is Nathan and Haley's business, and if we meddled, we could make things worse."

Brooke looked at her, and to Peyton's surprise she didn't bother arguing and just shrugged. She then turned to lean on the railings and just sat there glancing around the gym.

Complete silence between them.

There never used to be silence.

Peyton glanced at the space separating them, smiling sadly at the irony of it all.

Barely two feet.

It's funny how they were standing right next to each other…and yet were miles apart.

* * *

Nathan rounded another corner.

Ignoring all the weird looks he was getting, he carried on running through the halls looking for any sign of a petite body with wavy blonde locks. He must've looked crazy rushing around like a headless chicken, but at this point he couldn't care less.

He could not believe his luck!

_Goddamn Rachel! _

If there was ever a moment that he absolutely and completely regretted his time with her, it was now. Thanks to her he was now channeling his inner Speedy Gonzales all over the university trying to fix the mess she made. Not to mention Haley had the complete wrong idea of what just happened, Brooke and Peyton were probably going to kill him, Lucas would give him a friggin lecture on how letting sluts into their dorms always leads to bad things, and on top of everything – his ex that should never have happened had now made off with his favourite jersey!

_Where the hell would she be?_

Her dorm was the first place he tried but there was no one there. And he tried calling her but couldn't get through.

Looking ahead he realised he'd ended up near the gym entrance. He figured it was worth a look, there weren't many places left she could've gone.

Sighing he almost ran into someone on their way out.

"Nathan?"

His eyes popped.

"Haley!" He grinned forgetting for the situation for a moment, "you're a hard woman to find"

She raised an eyebrow, "guess it depends whose looking."

She moved to brush past him.

"Wait Haley,"

"What?" she turned around, looking at him, completely indifferent. He thought she'd be angry or upset, but she didn't really seem to be expressing any emotion. For some reason, the lack of emotion irked him even more.

"I just…can I talk to you?"

"Sure," arms folded she looked up at him expectantly. Nothing on her face suggesting that this was anything but casual conversation.

"Erm, somewhere a bit more private?"

She nodded, following him to a secluded classroom. Looking at her, she still wasn't giving anything away and though he hated to admit it, it was throwing him off slightly.

"Right, so…"

"So…?"

She really wasn't helping him out here.

Not that she should. But it wasn't like Nathan had ever been in this position before. He'd never had to explain himself to a girl in the past. Not because he'd never done anything stupid or asshole-y, he just never cared to before.

But this was different.

He was beginning to notice that most things were different when it came to Haley James.

"Look, you're probably wondering what happened back there…at my dorm…with Rachel"

She flinched a little at her name, but she controlled it so quickly Nathan couldn't be sure he saw it in the first place. He tried to figure out how to explain the next part, if he wasn't careful it could be misinterpreted really badly.

"I know I was planning on meeting you Haley, but what happened was-"

"It doesn't matter Nathan"

"-that when I got to- huh? What doesn't matter?"

"You don't owe me an explanation"

He was seriously confused. "I don't?"

"No," then she smiled.

_Why the fuck is she smiling right now? _He was pretty sure she was supposed to be having the opposite reaction. Something like slapping his face, or kneeing his groin – neither of which were appealing, but still pretty much expected.

"Look, it's not like we're together or anything right?"

"Well no…" he suddenly didn't like where this was going. Yeah they weren't together, but that was the whole point of meeting with her just now. They were supposed to get together, and make out…a lot. Wasn't that the point? Or did he miss something entirely with the incident back in the tutor centre?

"And neither of us have made any kind of commitment to the other"

_Not yet_ he thought silently. He was pretty sure they would have ten minutes ago if there'd been no damn Rachel in the picture.

"And it was just one little kiss."

WTF? LITTLE?! There was nothing fricking little about that kiss. That was one _hell_ of a kiss. He should know – he bloody well initiated it!

"I see" He gritted his teeth.

Now he _knew_ where this was going.

"So really, what you do in your dorm…with your ex," she refrained from saying 'skanky redheads' "is really none of my business."

"It's not?"

He was asking again, wanting to hear it straight from her.

"No" she said firmly. "Not at all."

She watched his face lose all expression. It was cold.

She didn't like it, especially not aimed at her but she knew she couldn't do anything. This was for the best. She'd been down this route before, and she was not going there again. Last time almost broke her, and she knew that with Nathan, he had the ability to do just that. The difference was this time she wasn't going to let it happen.

She was lying through her teeth right now of course. The whole scenario she just witnessed, it didn't mean nothing. She wanted to know what the hell was going on. What the fuck was Rachel doing in his room? Why was she in his clothes? Did their kiss mean absolutely nothing to him? Or was it all some misunderstanding?

There was every chance that he could answer all those questions and alleviate her doubts; but there was also a chance that his response could make her feel even worse than she already did. That his answers could send her back down a path she had long since left, and wasn't willing to go back down.

No. The situation with Nathan just now, the scene she'd just witnessed...it hit too close to home. It brought back memories she did not want to entertain ever again.

There was a reason she left Oak Lake, that she'd moved out here.

She had her own demons she had to get away from. And Nathan Scott, he had the potential to bring them back out again.

And she refused to let that happen.

Face set, she looked him dead in the eye. "So was there anything else or are we done here?"

She was being abrupt, and she didn't enjoy it.

He clearly didn't like it either if the way he was looking at her meant anything.

"No I guess we're done"

She expected it, but it still stung a little. Forgetting that for now she straightened herself and walked away from him. It felt wrong, and she had a feeling she was losing something that really could have been great.

But it just wasn't a chance she could take.

Nathan watched her round the corner, his entire mood depressing with her every step. Once she disappeared, he cursed.

What the HELL was that?

Something was seriously wrong.

With _her_.

And for once he didn't mean that in the cocky 'all-girls-that-don't-want-me-are-nutcases' way. There was something really wrong. She'd schooled her expressions and guarded her body language so that she gave nothing away, but he saw it all in her eyes.

She couldn't hide the emotion in her eyes.

And all he saw was...Pain_. _Hurt. Sadness.

There was a determination in her voice, a finality that proved she felt she was making the right decision. But Nathan could see in her eyes, that she hated that she was making it regardless.

He just didn't know why?

It hit him then that despite all the time they've talked, he didn't know all that much about Haley James. Their relationship had mostly consisted of her knowing him, listening as he confided in her, helping him with his problems. Apart from the generic things – she's funny, feisty, smart, has a big family, likes school and so on, he didn't know a hell of a lot about her.

She was a mystery.

And right now that was working against him. Since he had no idea about much of her life before she came to THA, he couldn't very well understand what the hell had her so scared. Because there was no doubt about it, Haley James was scared and she was using her fears to keep him away. He knew, cos he'd done it more than enough times himself.

But he also knew, that he sure as hell wasn't going to let her play him at his own game.

He needed to get to the bottom of this. He had to find out more about the enigmatic Haley James.

Once he knew what the problem was, he would be able to convince her to take a chance on him.

And she would.

Cos he sure as hell wasn't giving up.

_No._ He thought firmly.

Not at all.


	16. Chapter 14

**It's been a while but hopefully the chapter itself will make up for it! Enjoy :) **

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"_I'm coming to get you, There won't be no issues, You're gonna be mine, You're gonna be mine girl," __**– Diggy Simmons**_

Haley frowned.

Odd since most girls in her position would be elated. Most girls would be flicking their hair or puckering their lips or hell – even flipping cartwheels just to be in this position.

Nathan Scott was standing across the room, surrounded by an entire basketball team hooting and hollering. The only thing is, he was ignoring all the craziness around him and entirely focused on _her_.

He was staring. Eyes gleaming. Smiling. At _her_.

Ignoring the insane fluttering in her stomach questioning why exactly this was a bad thing, she turned to focus her attention elsewhere. Anywhere that wasn't Nathan Scott.

Except through no fault of her own, her eyes slowly pulled back onto him.

He smirked.

Knowingly.

_God dammit! _

She huffed. He'd been doing this for a week now. Ever since she decided to essentially 'freeze him out' without him knowing that was what she was doing, he'd done everything to make that virtually impossible!

How that even made sense, she had no idea. It had been her idea to close off to the escalating situation with her and the cocky jock. She had decided that going down that road was not a good idea, was bound to cause her unnecessary drama, and sure to end in tears. Subconsciously she knew she wasn't giving him a fair chance considering she couldn't predict that _was_ how things would turn out, but she felt it a fair idea to steer clear of a guy who had just got out of a long term relationship only a month ago.

_Though Brooke did say it wasn't really a relationship. Just sex. _

She scrunched her nose at that.

She had never been one to consider just sex as any kind of relationship, but apparently Nathan Scott had.

And that was EXACTLY why she had to stop this thing between them.

They were too different. She did relationships, he did booty calls. She went with her heart, he went with his hormones. She was a full on geek, he was a charming as hell jock. She was just Haley James. He was Nathan freakin Scott.

He had a lot more experience than her in this department. But she was sure that if she made it clear that she wasn't interested, he'd get over it (whatever 'it' was) and move on. But if anything, this past week, he'd been even more persistent than before!

He was suddenly showing up everywhere she went. EVERYWHERE. Her dorms, the courts, the benches where she liked to read, the food court where they always 'happened' to have lunch together, conveniently managing to walk her to every class, showing up at the tutor centre, committing hours into the library…Brooke even had to throw him out of cheerleading practice…_twice_. It was like he suddenly had an internal GPS tracking system on her whereabouts.

And then there was the flirting. Dear _GOD _the flirting. Every second in his company she was treated to his smouldering gaze, his flirty smirks, his bedroom eyes – not to mention that absolutely adorable smile he'd get when she would somehow say something that he actually found funny. And the most irritating thing of all was that it was all working!

She didn't have a clue as to why he was suddenly turning the heat up, but all of a sudden she was being treated to Courtship By Nathan Scott: How To Irresistibly Woo The Opposite Sex Into Jumping His Bones. She was trying – she really was. But all those feelings she was trying to dampen, to flatten out and beat down; they were just rising right to the surface. Practically choking her with the unresolved sexual tension of it all.

Brooke and Peyton were loving it, obviously.

Apparently they'd never seen Nathan work so hard for something that wasn't basketball-related.

Looks like she broke him.

Go figure.

At this point she really didn't think she could handle one more second in his company without completely succumbing to-

-did he just give her the _nod_?

Her jaw dropped as he swiftly inclined his head in her direction, sharing an amused look on his face when he didn't drop his gaze from hers once as he strode out with his teammates.

Feeling a sudden urge to water herself down with the nearest hose, she'd had enough. She had to get him off her back somehow! But how to do it?

Thinking hard, she hadn't even noticed the body she'd bumped into until she almost fell from the impact.

_Dammit, graceful much James?_

Glancing up to apologise she was startled to see a familiar face.

"Ryan?"

"Hey James" he smiled, looking every bit the tanned, tousle haired Californian hottie Brooke liked to refer to him as. "Good thing I bumped into you. Was wondering when you were finally going to get round to calling me"

He smiled charmingly.

She smiled back.

Oh yeah, she had an idea alright.

* * *

"So you guys won the game. My girls kicked cheer ass and looked fabulous doing it. How are we going to go celebrate?"

Brooke was hyped up and wanting to have some fun. Truthfully it didn't have everything to do with the game, and more so with Lucas giving her weird broody stares throughout the entire thing. She'd been feeling edgy since they'd met and given each other's things back, and he really wasn't helping things now.

"Yo – party at Marcus' place peeps!"

"We're not you're peeps you moron"

Brooke rolled her eyes as Tim continued to hustle as many people together to get going, in whatever form of English he decided was appropriate.

"Brooke, you coming?"

Nathan gave her a weird look noticing her space out a little as Lucas smiled and walked past. Shrugging it off with a smile she just grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Come on Scott, people are going to be throwing a fit if YOU of all people don't show up."

"Doubt it…how comes Jake can get away with not showing up and I _have_ to"

"Because Jake didn't make the winning shot in the game, and he's too nice to force things on"

"Hey! I'm nice!"

"Sure sure, you're a regular Prince Charming" Brooke snorted

"Course I am. Just ask Haley" he smirked thinking of the fun he would have with her at the party. She'd give in eventually, he just knew it.

"Yeah well conveniently for you she's not around to prove you wrong"

He frowned. He hadn't actually spotted her after the game. Usually she'd be right with Brooke. "Where is she?"

"Oh she's not coming"

"Huh?" _Not coming? _"She's a cheerleader, why wouldn't she come?"

Brooke started at his sudden commanding tone. "She had better things to do"

"Like what?!"

"Like a _date_." She smarted and walked off. It seemed a little cruel but no guy, not even Nathan friggin Scott got to talk to her like that.

"A date." He gritted.

Oh that was so not gonna happen.

He jogged to catch up with Brooke, apologise and get as much information on this so-called date as he could get out of her.

* * *

Haley was surprisingly enjoying herself.

She was sitting with Ryan in an ice cream parlour for their date. It was laidback and casual - very _Ryan_ as she was starting to understand. They were both still in their respective game uniforms, something she knew he appreciated if the way he kept eyeing her cheerleading skirt was any indication. They talked quite freely; he was funny and charming and she genuinely enjoyed the conversation.

But…she just wasn't feeling it.

And she hated that she couldn't.

For some unknown reason, despite the fact that she was on a date with a very attractive guy, who was great in _all_ the right places; she wasn't feeling a spark. That pull…the appeal…the way her heart should be fluttering and butterflies should be stampeding all over the place inside her.

Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

And she didn't need a shrink to figure out what was wrong.

She had her mind on someone else. Someone who made her feel all those things with just one look, one word, one _smirk_. She was crushing hard on Nathan Scott, and apparently her mind wouldn't let her forget it.

And she wasn't the only one who'd figured it out.

"You're really not feeling this are you?"

She looked guiltily at Ryan, who seemed to be staring right back with more understanding than she expected.

"I'm sorry, I'm really really sorry," she gushed, "I thought I was, I mean – I do like _you_, you're an amazing guy-"

"This is true," he joked, smiling down at her.

"Yeah, god I don't know what's wrong with me!" She laughed awkwardly. She felt like such an idiot, and she wasn't really making sense at the moment.

"Well I'm guessing like the movie says, you're just not that into me" he smirked.

It was a cute smirk. But it wasn't THE smirk.

She laughed. "Like I said, I don't know what the hell's wrong. You're exactly the kind of guy I should be into"

"Oh Haley, you can't force these things. You either like me or you don't. Fact is, I like you, but I don't want to date you unless you want to date me back."

He wasn't rude or obnoxious or in any way patronising her. He was just stating fact and being a right gentleman about the situation. What was wrong with her that she couldn't like a guy like this? Why is it she had to go liking the biggest flirt on campus instead?

"Besides, I'm guessing a lot of guys on campus are used to playing second fiddle to Nathan Scott." He observed her reaction carefully.

Great. She'd been made.

She sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

"No…only if you have eyes"

"Hey!"

She flicked some of her ice cream at him. His laughter gave way to shock at the thought that anyone would waste ice cream, which only served to start another round of flicking ice cream and laughter. All the while, only a few metres away a pair of startling blue eyes were watching the interaction over the top of a brightly coloured menu.

Nathan was pissed. _Who the hell does he think he is?_

"Nathan!" Ignoring the muffled squeaking behind him he carried on staring at the scene before him. "Nathan stop it – seriously!" He grunted when Brooke's elbow hit his gut.

"What the fuck Brooke?"

"Don't give me that crap. You're the one that kidnapped me!"

"Fucking dramatic much?"

"And you made us both miss the after party to our _winning _game."

"Don't worry you can do a drunk strip tease on a table at the next one"

"That was ONCE"

"Yeah once too much…"

"Like you can talk Mr-Streak-through-the-Quad-on-parent's-night!"

"Hey, your mum enjoyed that"

"This is pathetic! You dragged me here so we could sit here and spy on Haley's date over a pair of menus. You're acting like a psycho stalker!"

"And you're a goddamn harpy. Could you be any louder? They could _hear_ us."

"Wow, Nathan, this is a new low. Even for you"

"Go Brooke yourself"

"Oh you did not just go there!"

"Will you shut up?"

"Make me you psycho creep!"

"Gladly you crazy bitch!"

"Excuse ME!" They both looked up to see a waitress standing there waiting with a notepad and pen. "If you guys want to order something then can you do so now, or if you'd like to carry on with this lover's spat, I'm going to have to ask you to take it outside."

Both brunettes got equal looks of repulsion at the thought of being mistaken for lovers.

"Nathan? Brooke?"

Their faces dropped. Brooke being the first to recover pasted a winning smile on her face. "Haley! Fancy seeing you here" Nathan was too busy fixating on the dickhead who was currently in the midst of wiping some chocolate ice cream off Haley's face.

With his_ hand_.

Seeing the weird look on her roommate and her date's faces, Brooke immediately looped her arm through Nathan's, who was still staring.

"What are you talking about? You're the one that recommended this place." Haley gave her a weird look. "And what are you guys doing here, weren't you going to the party?" Haley still couldn't get over the bizarre picture of Nathan and Brooke together. In the booth right next to them. _Together._ Brooke was wearing the biggest fake smile she'd seen on the girl. And Nathan looked like he wanted to shoot somebody.

_What the hell is going on?_

"Oh yeah, but we changed our minds, felt like getting a little fresh air – see the sights…you know" the bubbly brunette trailed off.

Ryan frowned. "Are you guys on a date?"

Haley looked at him like he was crazy. As did Brooke. So did Nathan. _And_ the waitress.

"Yes!"

"You are?" Ryan's eyebrows shot up.

Haley snapped back over towards Brooke. "You are?"

Nathan looked at Brooke like she was possessed, "We are?!" he whispered furiously

"Since when?" Haley glanced at them suspiciously.

"Oh you know, twenty minutes ago. We've just been dancing around each other for so long, I figured it was time we finally went for it" She looked up at Nathan, "Right Natey?"

He looked at her like she needed to be committed. "Brooke what are yo-Oomf!" Another hit to the gut…lovely. "-you talking about? It hasn't been that long"

"Please, you've been meaning to ask me out ever since you laid eyes on me"

"Right. I have."

"You have?" the waitress seemed doubtful.

"Huh I would never have figured," Ryan looked at the two of them. "I thought you were dating his brother, Lucas"

"You were?" They all stared at the waitress, who just waved them off to continue.

"Yeah, we broke up"

"And now you're dating the other brother?"

"The better brother" Nathan added, almost threateningly, while flashing Haley a grin.

"And you guys decided you finally wanted to go on your first date. Here. And now" Haley deadpanned. _These two are so dead_. She had no idea what was really going on, but she knew it sure as hell wasn't a date.

"Right where we happened to be." She looked Brooke dead in the eye, while the brunette looked anywhere but at her face.

"Well you know when the timings right, its right. And guess fate just brought all us happy couples together tonight" _Man Brooke could bullshit._

"Happy is not the word I'd use…" the waitress muttered.

"Huh, well guess you're over Haley then?" Ryan looked at Nathan, who blanched.

As did Brooke. As did Haley.

"Whose Haley?" The waitress was confused. Haley lifted her hand and the waitress blanched. "_Oh…_"

"Over Haley?" Nathan tried to play it off, "I was never under her"

The waitress's eyebrows shot up.

Ryan smirked.

Haley face palmed.

Brooke just muttered, "Not for your lack of trying"

"What was that honey?" Nathan gritted.

"Nothing sweetie"

There was that fake smile again. Haley was officially clueless as to what was going on. And was three seconds away from slapping sense into all three of them. Including Ryan, what was he playing at?

"Sorry mate, heard rumours around, you know how it is," he nodded at Nathan. He then took hold of Haley's hand and brought it up for a kiss "glad to hear it though, I don't particularly like sharing"

'_What are you doing?' _she mouthed inconspicuously

'_Just play along' _he mouthed back

Haley had no idea what the game was but didn't say anything. She had no idea what she would say at this point.

"Huh, getting really touchy feely there aren't you Saunders?"

Nathan's mouth was in a thin hard line. His eyes gleamed almost predatorily, Haley had seen looks similar on the discovery channel when lions would hunt down gazelles. Which seemed appropriate since he was looking right now at Ryan like he would happily tear him limb from limb.

She remembered seeing that look on his face once before. In the tutoring centre when she had just given her number to the guy sitting opposite her now.

He was jealous.

Really jealous. She noted the clenched fists, the gritted teeth, the eyes sending out death rays at his 'opponent'. God, he looked _hot_. She felt a thrill jolt through her just taking him in. It was wrong and she really shouldn't be thinking that way considering the messed up situation they were in. But the fact that Nathan Scott would go all alpha-male possessive over her; it was exhilarating.

"Can't help it. My girl's pretty hot."

Oh crap.

He'd said it. Nathan heard it.

Pin drop silence for a second.

And then…

There was a loud bang as Nathan's fists met the table before he pushed himself up. "She's not _your _girl" he practically growled at Ryan.

"She'd not yours either," Ryan stood up matching Nathan toe to toe.

Haley's eyes popped. Brooke's jaw dropped. And the damn waitress stood there, her eyes glued to the scene looking like she was caught in between seeing what happened next and running off to get popcorn.

"Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned with your date?" Ryan indicated the brunette sitting behind Nathan.

"She's not my date"

Everyone except Nathan stared at Brooke.

She rolled her eyes. "Guess I'm out"

She immediately opened the menu asking the waitress what was good on there. The waitress of course studiously ignored her now that she was no longer a part of the action in front of her.

Ryan chuckled. "So let me get this straight. You like Haley, but you came tonight with Brooke as a date. Only it turns out she's not your date, just your decoy while you spy on Haley – who is actually on a date with me?"

Nathan opened his mouth to argue but Brooke beat him to it, "pretty much"

He gave her a scathing look which she ignored as she continued to peruse the menu. _Damn Davis!_ Acting like it was _his_ idea to put on the stupid dating ruse in the first place.

"But I'm sure your interest in her is strictly friendly right? You're just being overprotective. Well you don't need to worry, she's in good hands"

Ryan smiled, it was clear to anyone that he was goading the basketball star.

Haley herself felt mortified at the thought that this because of her. Throw in that she was also angry at Nathan for gate-crashing her date, at Ryan for provoking him, and Brooke for taking part; not to mention kind of flattered that this was all because of her. She pretty much felt like an emotional basket case right now. Regardless, even she had to admit she wanted to hear what Nathan had to say. He'd been making the moves, and sending the signals for so long. And despite that she was the one that had cut this whole thing between them off, she was surprised that yet again _he _was the one here and pushing for them once again. Her self-restraint could only resist for so long, and she was anxious that his next move will be the make and break point between them.

Ryan turned back to Haley, indicating that they should leave.

"No."

They all turned at that. Brooke finally put down the menu.

_Now things are heating up._

There was nothing better to Brooke Davis than juicy gossip. And in this case she was going to get the live edition. The waitress sat down next to her, both of them practically on the edge of their seats.

"Sorry?" Ryan acted confused but in actuality this was exactly what he'd been bracing for. He knew that Nathan and Haley were into each other. And from the little talk they had just before these two showed up, he knew that all they needed was a push. Haley seemed scared and Nathan needed the right incentive. And what was better incentive than another guy taking over his territory. Or in this case making the moves on his girl.

"I'm not here because I'm being overprotective. And I don't give a shit about you and your hands except that I want them the hell away from her"

"Oh my god" the waitress couldn't contain her excitement.

"Shhhh! It's getting good." Brooke stole a quick look at Haley and was surprised her friend hadn't stepped in and taken over yet. She was usually so feisty and independent, yet she looked like she was just sitting there in some kind of stupor.

"Then why are you here?"

_Ok maybe I spoke a little soon_. All their faces shifted to the blonde now rising from the booth.

"Haley-"

"No Nathan, don't give me any bullshit, don't spin things a different way. And forget the fact that Ryan or Brooke or anyone else is here"

"Hey!" Brooke just looked at the waitress, "what? I do have a name"

"Good for you…Millicent" she read.

"Call me Millie," she smiled and Brooke smiled back, "I'm Brooke"

"Oh I know" they both snickered bringing their attention back to the couple.

"Why. Are. You. Here?"

"Because you're meant to be here with me."

"I am?"

"Yes. You're meant to _be_ with me. And I don't give a shit that you're here with some other idiot, but you're not supposed to be."

"And what makes you think you're the one I'm supposed to be with?"

He smiled. "Because I _like _you Haley James. Really like you. And you like me too. You're just too stubborn to let yourself. But that's ok if you won't," he walked over in front of her. She looked at him with a doe-like expression that he found just utterly adorable in that moment. _Adorable._ Right, he needed to locate his balls. Looking at her though, _screw it._ "Because I like you enough for both of us right now"

She looked into his eyes and saw nothing but determination. To be with her.

"Right answer."

The smile lit up his face.

And she smiled back.


	17. AN

**A/N: Important**

Sorry guys - this is not an update!

I hate to make it look like I posted a new chapter only for this to be here instead, but I felt I had to in order to understand what to do about this fic. As a recent reviewer has pointed out, I did start this story a few years back and obviously its nowhere near finished, and really not updated regularly. I apologise for that. To be honest, I started losing my mojo with Naley after the show kinda started going downhill for me (esp season 7 onwards), and then I got more inspired by other shows and couples, so this fic sort of suffered as a result.

I do still adore the original NH and love the couple, but I kept hitting writer's block with this story once I stopped getting any inspiration from the show. I hate to leave things unfinished though, so I'm at somewhat of a crossroads with this fic at the moment.

I decided it would be best to see if there are any readers out there who are still interested in this fic and would actually want for me to continue. Like I said, I am finding it harder to find my muse with this story, but if there is still a keen interest out there to see where this story goes then I'd like to hear from you guys - if I feel there's enough then I'll have a reason to start trying again with this fic. And if anyone has any ideas or thoughts on where they'd like it to go, then feel free to throw out any suggestions or PM me a response.

Thanks guys!

**Timeless23 **


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